COVID 19: Substandard sanitizers flood Nigeria – SON

Members of the public have been alerted to be wary of buying substandard hand sanitizers currency being sold in the Nigerian market.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) says such sanitizers could pose health hazards, instead of attaining the purpose of curbing the spread of COVID 19 in the country.

The acting State Coordinator of SON in Plateau, Mr. James Yakzam gave the warning on Friday in Jos during the presentation of SON’s Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) Certification to NELMACO Global Resources Ltd.

Hand sanitizers are supposed to be alcohol based but SON observed that some products in the market are void of alcohol and as such lacks the efficacy to kill germs or sanitize the hands.

“Some of the products are concocted with all sorts of materials that could be detrimental to the end user.

“There is a specified standard for alcohol based hand sanitizer and people who want to produce hand sanitizer locally should come to SON office to seek proper guidelines for production and for the purchase of the required alcohol.

“SON will be going round shops in the state to seize substandard hand sanitizers that do not meet the specified requirement and anyone caught selling substandard sanitizer will be prosecuted.

“I want to advise the general public to stop purchasing manufactured products without SON’s certification,’’ he said.

According to him, products without SON certification are in the market illegally and can be detrimental to the public having not met the requirements for quality and safety.

The state coordinator said that every product that met the requirements of the Nigerian Industrial Standards was safe and certified with either a MANCAP or a NIS (Nigerian Mark of Quality) sign.

Yakzam said the organisation ensured that all manufactured products complied with NIS requirements before their introduction to the market to promote consumer confidence and global competitiveness of Nigerian goods and services.

Earlier,the  coordinator during presentation of the MANCAP certification to NELMACO Global Resources, manufacturers of Unplasticised Polyvinyl Chloride and PVC pipes cautioned the company to continue to adhere to standard in spite being certified.

Yakzam urged the awardee to ensure adherence to SON’s standard as their products would still be subjected to regular surveillance.

He warned that the MANCAP certificate could be withdrawn if their products failed to conform to the required standard or if the company abused the rules of usage of the MANCAP logo.