NIGERIA – The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has commenced the regulation of conformity assessment practices in Nigeria, to establish registration and regulation for National Standards, Standard Marks, Certification Systems and Licenses.

This according to SON, is in line with the provisions of its enabling Act No. 14 of 2015 “To establish registration and regulation for National Standards, Standard Marks, Certification Systems and Licenses”.

Mallam Farouk Salim, the Director General of SON,  who disclosed this in Abuja recently at the inauguration of the committee to monitor and guide the activities of the National Registry of Conformity Assessment Practitioners (NRCAP), stated that all activities in management system standards implementation, testing and certifications are in compliance with international best practices.

The NRCAP activities will include the assessment and registration of competencies of “Management System Standards (MS) Auditors, Quality Inspectors, MS Certification Bodies and Management System Consultants

Salim stated that the setting up of the NRCAP scheme was in order to establish a directory of verified and registered conformity Assessment Practitioners in Nigeria for all laboratories, management systems auditors, consultants and certification bodies.

He noted that the appointment of an Impartiality Committee was in line with international  practices to guarantee fairness and transparency in the NRCAP Unit.

The DG further explained that the constitution of the Impartiality Committee was based on the attributes of due professional care, independence, confidentiality, integrity, proven experience in quality assurance and conformity assessment practice demonstrated over the years by the members in the course of their active work life.

This is in addition to the existing strategic collaboration and partnership that SON shares with the various organizations that they represent.

He reckoned the Committee’s responsibilities as including technical evaluation of all information forwarded by the NRCAP desk regarding the applicants to the scheme, against the registration criteria.

“You are to verify all the information and make recommendations to the Director General, SON while taking due care to safeguard the integrity of the registration process.

“This is a call to serve Nigeria and contribute to strengthening the operational efficiency of the national quality infrastructure through the implementation of proper control and monitoring structure for conformity Assessment Practitioners in Nigeria,” Salim told the Committee members.

According to him, a date for training on the Operational Guidelines of the scheme shall soon be communicated to the Committee members.

The potential benefits of the scheme to the Nigerian economy includes documentation of all matters relating to standards as referenced in the SON Act, assurance to customers of quality products and services, thus getting real value for money, as well as effective monitoring of the activities of the Conformity Assessment Practitioners in the Nigerian Market in line with international best practices.

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