Ministry of Trade and Investment has received a presidential backing to ensure a drastic reduction in the substandard products across the country before the end of 2013.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, disclosed this during the inauguration of the Consumer Protection Council’s Products and Services Listing and Monitoring Programme (Proserve) in Abuja, yesterday.

Aganga said his ministry would intensify the fight against substandard products across the country, in line with its Industrial Revolution Plan and Local Patronage Initiative.

He said, “The present administration, led by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, attaches great importance to the development of our local industries. The main barriers to increased productivity of our local industries have been identified and we are already working on them. And one of the areas that have been identified has to do with sub-standard products.

The President has asked for a presentation to be made to him at the Economic Management Team by the Directors General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Consumer Protection Council on substandard products. This shows how seriously the President takes the issue of substandard goods.

“Yesterday, the ministers signed a performance contract with Mr. President and one of my Key Performance Indicators is to reduce the level of substandard products across the country. And within the next few weeks, I will be signing KPI contracts with the DGs of SON and CPC on the reduction of substandard products across the country.

My target is, perhaps, to reduce the level of substandard products to about 30 per cent by the end of next year. But I am going to ask them to possibly reduce to it to about 15 per cent. So, this is to assure Nigerians that the government is taking serious action against the substandard products.”

The Minister noted that in addition to reducing the current level of substandard products , his ministry  had also  embarked on policies and programmes  aimed at promoting the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products.

He added that the initiative would help to boost the productivity of local industries, create jobs and generate wealth for Nigerians.

Aganga said, “Overtime, we have made spirited efforts at the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment to promote the patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products and services.

This is very important for a number of reasons: local patronage will enhance productivity of our industries and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. This will increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product and also create wealth for our people.

“But when we patronise made-in Nigeria products, we are creating jobs for our brothers and sisters who are unemployed.

If we buy made-in-Nigeria products, our manufacturers will produce more goods, make more money and employ more people.

But when we buy products that are imported from other countries, we are creating jobs and generating wealth – not for Nigerians, but for people outside Nigeria. Therefore, by patronising made-in-Nigeria products, we are being patriotic and helping in playing a major role as job creators, which will ultimately reduce unemployment in our country.

The overall objective of Proserve, among other things, is the elimination of fake and substandard products from the market and instill consumer confidence in locally-made goods .”

Speaking during the event, the Director General of CPC, Mrs. Ify Umenyi, said the listing products through CPC’s Proserve initiative would help eliminate substandard products and improve service delivery to Nigerian consumers.

She said, “The listing exercise will create a matrix of genuine  products and service providers in the marketplace thus identifying and eliminating fake , substandard, defective products and poor services”.