SON, AFBTE Reaffirms Collaboration In Promoting Quality
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Association of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employers Association (AFBTE) have jointly reaffirmed the collaboration between the two organisations with a commitment to further promote the quality of products manufactured by the latter in Nigeria.
This affirmation was expressed at a forum in Lagos where the Chief Executives of Organisations under the umbrella of AFBTE hosted the Director General of SON, Mr. Osita Aboloma and some members of his management to a lunch recently.
Welcoming the SON Director General to the occasion, the President of AFBTE, Mr. Paul Gbededo, who is also the Group Managing Director of Flour Mills of Nigeria enumerated the immense benefits of the long standing collaboration between the two organizations in the areas of standardization and quality assurance in Nigeria.
He congratulated the SON DG on his appointment and commended the agency’s role in clarifying the specifications in the Nigeria Industrial Standard in relation to standards in other climes in the recent soft drinks saga.
The AFBTE President pledged the commitment of the association and its member bodies to promoting continual improvement in the food, beverages and tobacco sector in Nigeria in furtherance of the Government’s economic diversification agenda.
Responding, Mr. Osita Aboloma acknowledged the tremendous support his agency had been getting from the AFBTE member bodies particular in the hosting of technical committee meetings for standards development and review as well as their active and relevant contributions to the processes.
He stated that SON only played its statutory role in the soft drinks saga by providing documented facts as agreed by stakeholders and approved by the Standards Council of Nigeria. “The concessions being enjoyed by members of the AFBTE in certification fees, import permits for raw materials and machinery shall continue to encourage improve capacity utilization by the member companies”, he said
The SON DG charged the joint technical committee of SON and AFBTE proposed by him to work assiduously towards facilitating resolution of issues between the two organizations.
Mr. Aboloma reiterated the commitment of SON under his leadership to fighting the menace of substandard products influx and circulation in order to protect local and foreign investments in Nigeria.
According to him, SON is working assiduously to expand the scope of international accreditation of its food chemistry and microbiology laboratories to provide greater opportunity to manufacturers in the bid to export their products.
The Director General then enjoined members of AFBTE to take optimum advantage of SON capacity in international management systems training and certification services to be in tune with international best practices at all times.
SOURCE: SON
