The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has warned manufacturers of hand sanitisers and liquid hand wash, to adhere strictly to global best practises as failure to do so would attract penalties.
The agency pointed out that the importance of quality hand sanitisers cannot be overemphasized at a time when the world was on the race to find a cure to combat the Coronavirus pandemic.
Director-General, SON, Osita Aboloma, represented by the Ogun State Office 11, SON, Engr. Akanbi Eyitayo Micheal, said during a facility tour to Cormat Nigeria in Ogun recently that SON would not tolerate any minus in standards.
Aboloma urged consumers to always insist on patronising only hand sanitisers certified by SON to avoid harmful effects on their skin while also getting value for their hard-earned money.
According to him, quality hand sanitisers and liquid hand wash are one of the critical tools to battle the virus, saying that handwashing with soap and water is one of the most important steps that can be taken to avoid getting sick and spreading the virus to loved ones.
He said many diseases were spread by not cleaning the hands properly after touching contaminated objects or surfaces, stressing why it was critical to wash hands at key times, such as after a flood or during a pandemic.
It would be recalled that SON supported the manufacturing and importation of essential materials to combat the challenges of COVID-19 through the deployment of 28 relevant international Standards from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and one from the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) on Alcohol-based Hand Sanitisers.
“In all our observations during the quarterly visits to the factory, they have been adhering to our standards and we will like to tell consumers and stakeholders not to patronise all the hand sanitizer in the market, some of these hand sanitisers have bad reactions on your skin, so it is always good to patronise only certified liquid hand wash in this present situation we have found ourselves,” he said.
He urged manufacturers to always visit SON to obtain the minimum required standards for producing goods in the country, stressing that SON would only support and encourage genuine businesses in the country.
He said in line with the Federal Government’s ease of doing business mandate, SON had repositioned itself to become business facilitators, urging manufacturers to take advantage of SON’s services to become competitive, both locally and globally.
“We are here to give technical support to Cormat Nigeria Limited. They have been our stakeholder for the past 15 years and they are not just coming into the business of alcohol-based hand sanitiser and liquid hand wash production, they have been on ground for more than a decade,” he added.
“We have always admonished manufacturers to come to us for technical support so that we can guide them through. SON is with you all the way and in line with the ease of doing business mandate of the federal government, we are here to encourage manufacturers and even the small businesses too. Come to us, we will guide you and give you all the necessary technical support,” he stressed.
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Responding, the Head Technical and Plant Manager, Mr. Jelle Van Der Meer thanked SON for the visit stating that the company recognizes that it is a trying period in the world, so it is open to visits and suggestions by SON to help the company raise the bar for performance to a higher level in achieving corporate goals.
Van De Meer also reassured the SON team that as an ISO certified Company, all observations for improvements will be adhered to and given the necessary attention as it is open for continual improvement with the proper understanding of what it means to produce premium quality products in keeping ahead of the competition.
Cormat Nigeria Limited is a leading company in the manufacturing of general household products and the focus of the technical support visit by SON was to the company’s production line of hygiene products especially the hand sanitizer and antiseptic cleaners where an inspection was conducted on the production process from storage through packaging and to the laboratory.
