NIGERIA – The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has introduced a Product Authentication Mark (PAM) to ensure the authenticity and traceability of products certified to have met the requirements of the relevant Nigerian Industrial Standards or other approved specifications in Nigeria.
As of April 11, imported products certified to SONCAP/Registered with SON (Product Registration) must have the Product Authentication Mark before placement on the retail market.
The PAM Scheme is in the collective interest of importers and consumers. It will ensure the quality of products offered to consumers in Nigeria and overcome the negative effect of faking, cloning, and counterfeiting, particularly on certified products.
Importers and consumers alike will benefit from the PAM Scheme. It will guarantee the quality of the goods given to Nigerian customers and mitigate the detrimental effects of forging, cloning, and counterfeiting, particularly with regard to certified goods.
PAM Scheme will offer customers an online platform so they can directly verify the legitimacy of certified products before making a purchase and get value for their money. Additionally, it will guarantee genuine importers of the marketability of their goods. Without sales, there would be no market for low-quality, fraudulent, cloned, and counterfeit goods.
It is advised that importers apply for and obtain the PAM stickers from SON. A sticker costs three dollars.
Importers must submit an online application on the SONPAM website for the issuance of PAM stickers for products that have received SONCAP certification or are registered with SON.
With the help of the PAM Scheme, consumers will have access to an online platform where they can directly verify the legitimacy of certified products before making a purchase and get value for their money.
It will also guarantee genuine importers that their goods will be sold on the market. Substandard, phony, cloned, and counterfeit goods would not have a market without consumer support.
Importers are urged to complete an application and obtain the PAM stickers from SON at ₦3.00 (U.S$ 0.0065) each.
Importers whose products are certified to SONCAP/Registered with SON shall apply for the issuance of PAM stickers by completing an application form online on the SONPAM Website.
The destination inspection and the test report used to clear the products at the point of entry will serve as the basis for the issuing of PAM stickers for items without a product certificate, and the importer will need to submit an online application.
The importer must apply for the issuing of PAM stickers for licensed items, i.e., Product Certificate 3 (Route C of the SONCAP program), and pay for the same by submitting an estimate of the half-year quantities of licensed products that are anticipated to be imported into Nigeria.
For all retail units certified during submission, importers are responsible for purchasing the PAM stickers. Before SON’s final clearance of the products from the port of entry, an application for PAM stickers must be made.
Before the production of each batch, manufacturers with MANCAP-certified products can apply (voluntarily) for the issuing of PAM stickers by filling out an online application form on the SONPAM website.
The retail unit of the approved product must have the PAM sticker attached, says SON.
If attaching the PAM to the retail unit is not practicable, it must be done on a package that contains two or more retail units, as long as the price of each unit is not more than $50.00 at retail.
According to the SON Act 14 of 2015, anyone or any business entity that places a PAM sticker on a product that isn’t allowed to do so (an uncertified product) faces criminal penalties.
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