The Nigerian government has concluded arrangements to check the influx of sub-standard goods from China, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Josephine Tapgun said Monday.

Speaking in Lagos, Tapgun said when she visited the offices of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) on Monday that Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan had approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chinese government on the issue.

“The MoU will be signed on August l and what remains is to tidy up the arrangement to ensure it works.

“We have set up a committee to do a proper homework to ensure that there are no loopholes after signing the agreement,” the minister said.

Tapgun noted that the Chinese government had promised to properly monitor and ensure that goods imported from China met the Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS).

According to her, the development will be a victory for Nigeria if the government can stop the flooding of its markets with poor quality goods.

She described the act of importing sub-standard goods as an act of terrorism because it could cause loss of lives and property, as well as impoverish the citizens.

“The Federal Government is committed to dealing with the menace and SON will have the backing of the government to check the menace,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, on the eight steel mills that were recently shut down, Tapgun ordered SON to close down factories that failed to meet the required standards.

“Shut down any factory that failed to meet the requisite standards for producing acceptable standard steel.

“We are not going to tolerate it at all because the sector is very vital to real estate development and the construction industry,” she added.

She decried the rise in the number of collapsed buildings in the country.

In his remarks, Dr John Akanya, Director-General of SON, said that the shut steel firms had been given 90 days to meet the requisite standards.

“We are meeting with them today (Monday) to inform them that at the expiration of the 90 days, errant factories would be permanently shut down,” Akanya said.

He urged the public to report the purchase of all fake products to SON for necessary action.

Source African Press Agency

African News from NetNewsPublisher.com

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