The Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices have called on manufacturers to intensify the fight against the importation of substandard materials into the country. The organisations stated this on Friday at a meeting with some manufacturers in Abuja during the official handing over of four operational vehicles to SON and PCTM.

The vehicles were presented to the government agencies by Sumo Steels Limited, Aarti Steel, Olak Group and Kam Wire and Steel, as part of measures to support the operations of the organisations.

In his address at the event, the Chairman, PCTM, Dahiru-Ado Kurawa, said manufacturers must work with the government to halt the infiltration of substandard materials into Nigeria.

Kurawa said, “We are currently working with many sub-sectors to understand what is happening and support local manufacturing in those sub-sectors. Also, we are working with them to stop the infiltration of foreign goods illegally into the Nigerian economy and we encourage manufacturers to join us in this fight.”

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On his part, the Director-General, SON, Salim Farouk, called for cooperation among manufacturers in Nigeria to formidably fight against the influx of substandard products into Nigeria.

Farouk said, “What I am appealing to the steel industry is that this is a good example of cooperation but we need to step up our cooperation.

“The PTCM chairman and I, we may have connections all the way to the top but we don’t have the wherewithal or the influence to withstand people who are already bent on breaking the rules. We are willing to work hard but we need to be supported politically, materially and morally.”

The representative of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria at the event, Adeyemi Folorunsho, said MAN would continue to support the government on the need to cut down on substandard products’ imports and grow the economy.