Nigerians especially those directly linked with the nation’s maritime sector were last week startled with the news that the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) had accredited three companies namely; Quality Assurance Projects Limited. Medtech Scientific Limited and Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited to carry out pre-shipment verification of conformity to standards on used vehicles otherwise known as Tokunbo coming to Nigeria.
The news which filtered into the air like a wild fire was let out of the bag by the Director-General of SON himself, Dr. Joseph Odumodu shortly after the signing of an agreement to that effect explaining that the move was part of the efforts aimed at ensuring the successful implementation of the new automotive policy of the Federal government.
Odumodu said that since the Federal government had decided to make the automobile industry a component of the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan, the sector had been identified as a strategic industry group.
According to him, this was due to its large domestic market, labour intensive characteristics, strong industrial linkages and existing installed based and export potential into the Economic Community of West African States’ market.
He disclosed that out of 2,000 parts that made up a typical car, the government mandated only about 120 safety and environmental standards adding that this called for the need to institute a regime that would ensure effective enforcement of the standards and monitor their compliance.
In his word, “while some measures of progress have been recorded in the fight against the scourge of low quality imports to Nigeria over the years, there is general consensus that the absence of a regime to determine the quality of used motor vehicles imported into Nigeria has not achieved the desired effect”.
“It has resulted in the situation where many vehicles that have exceeded their permissible and useful life span continue to dominate the motor vehicle imports into the country. This has almost made Nigeria to becoming a dumping ground for substandard vehicles because the focus since the inception of SON Conformity Assessment Programme has been skewed in favour of products other than motor vehicles and other heavy duty equipment”.
“We have decided that as part of the SONCAP regime, a separate pre-shipment verification of conformity to standard on used vehicles be implemented by the organization”.
Despite all the seeming gains and reasons reeled out by the SON DG in respect to why the new policy should be welcomed by Nigerians in general and the critical stakeholders in particular, stakeholders seemed to be viewing the policy with suspicion wondering what the motive of SON is.
To very many of them, SON is seeking to be relevant even when it has not really performed well in the containment of sub-standard products that are daily flooding the Nigerian markets thus imagining what difference SON will make in this regard.
To some others, this is another way of seeking to bring back to the country the era of pre-shipment inspection which had since been done away with thus using Pre-shipment Inspection of conformity to standard on the used vehicles as a launch pad. This is more so as one of the former Destination Inspection Agents whose contracts with the Federal government recently expired.
Speaking to Primetime Reporters on the matter, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ossy Golden Agency, Mr. Osita Machie cautioned that the policy may not add any value to the economic growth of the country rather it may only succeed in taking Nigeria so many steps backwards.
Machie pointed out that the authorities should not always target the poor masses whenever they were coming up with any policy stating that these used vehicles which most Nigerians abroad were importing was made possible owing to the fact that that was first thing they could acquire on crossing over to those countries going by their cheap nature.
He said,” we keep experimenting at all times. We are being over flooded with used vehicles abroad and this is the easiest thing our indigenes abroad on their own either at the detriment of their families maybe after selling family properties, lands and what have you to having a way of documenting and leaving the country for a greener pasture”.
“The first thing they usually get is these cars because they are very cheap there, that is the first thing they acquire and whatever your income is, you must have a car of your own unlike here where it is for the rich. It is just a necessity, it is not a crime”.
“Then if Nigeria insists that used vehicles that are cheaper should not come in even at the stress and the bottlenecks that are being introduced, 35% for even buses which are being used by the poor masses, it is wrong, very wrong”.
He wondered if this was not another ploy by the government to permanently put to an end, the importation of used vehicles into the country going by so many policies that were being formulated around the products recounting that first it was the jerking up of duty and levy payable on imported used vehicles.
On his part, the National President, Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN), Dr. Frank Ukor opposed the decision to embark on pre-shipment verification of used vehicles on the ground that all the goods that were manufactured already including used cars were of international standards querying the need for such inspection.
He dissociated himself from the earlier position of an advocacy group in the industry, Maritime Advocacy and Action Group (MAAG) which endorsed the policy saying that he was not in the meeting when the issue was discussed and decision taken on the matter.
It will be recalled that MAAG which is made up twelve associations in the Maritime sector including AREFFN had earlier in a press briefing endorsed the decision of SON to begin pre-shipment inspection of used vehicles to be imported into the country.
Ukor maintained,” I didn’t hear when it was discussed, maybe, I have left when they (MAAG) discussed it because my opinion has always been different about that because all the goods that are manufactured including used cars are all of international standards, so what is the point in inspecting them? That has been my opinion”.
“They (MAAG) said that they are in support of SON inspecting vehicles abroad, I Frank Ukor is not in support, if all other associations are in support, well and fine. What I am saying is that all cars that were manufactured and were used are of international standards. It is only goods that come into this country, you know when Nigerians go to them, they reduce the quality but these ones are not necessary because you (SON) are going to waste money”.
He disclosed that this policy was targeted at stopping the importation of accidented vehicles into the country which when imported were declared as scraps, dismantled and sold in parts owing to the fact that the parts were usually in a very good condition and better than the new ones that were sold in the market.
The AREFFN boss further informed that those other parts which were not sold as spare parts ended up providing jobs for electricians, Mechanics, panel beaters as well as the Freight Forwarders themselves.
“So, if they bring in this new policy, I don’t know what they intend to achieve, whether they say they don’t want them to bring in all these ones but you know Nigerians for who they are and the level of corruption in this country, money must exchange hands. When they do this, the cost of clearing cars in the country will be higher and then increasing the purchasing price in the market and how many Nigerians can then afford it?” Ukor questioned.
He bemoaned the amount of money that would be lost in this project as SON as an agency would have to position the Inspection Contractors at the countries of origin of those vehicles and be paying them huge sums of money which would eventually boil down to the cost of clearing the vehicles and the amount the final consumer would buy the product.
Also speaking, the Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), PTML Chapter, Chief Goodluck Onunji described the move as a ploy by those who never supported the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) of the Nigeria Customs Service to survive return the erstwhile Service providers to the ports.
Onunji further described the idea of having used cars which according to him were valueless inspected before allowing them to be imported into the country making no sense to him wondering how much the country would benefit from such vehicles.
According to him,” since the customs took over the Destination Inspection and introduced PAAR, all these inspection agents have never been happy over the development and the advice they are giving to the government that the government wants to use now may not go down well”.
“What we in the maritime industry want is the facilitation of trade. Where you see that used vehicles which to me are valueless will be inspected at the port of loading before shipment is nonsense. I said it is nonsense because I don’t know how much we may expect to gain from the used vehicles”.
“I know that the Nigerian government is trying to help people because of the high cost of new vehicles but for somebody to go home and think that inspecting vehicles, mostly used vehicles oversee will help business, to me, I don’t think it is true”.
“They will handle it to the extent that what they did during the time of RAR (Risk Assessment Report) will also happen. It was during the time of RAR that all the inspection agents when they say they have issued RAR, if you check the RAR which was issued at the port of loading, on coming to the port of destination, you discover different thing which as at now, for security reasons, I will not advise Nigeria to go into such system again. They should allow this PAAR because PAAR”.
He pointed out that PAAR was working and advised the Inspection agents to relax and give the PAAR a little time to stabilize saying that if they were advising the government that PAAR should not be allowed to see the light of the day, they were giving the government a wrong advice even as he accused some people of sabotaging the PAAR.
“So somebody like me that is in this practice, I know for sure that as at now, the inspection agents and some other persons had been sabotaging this PAAR but I will advise the government to look inward and know that any policy that will not favour at least 50% of Nigerians is a wrong policy because the masses have the right to decide because we are in a democracy”.
“Coming to that o RAR which we were practicing that they want to bring back now indirectly, it will not augur well because a lot of misinformation on the document which may lead to certain problems in the industry in due course”, Onunji stated.
From the foregoing, one could easily deduce the fact that the policy did not go down well with the stakeholders who have exercised some kinds of fears ranging from the hardship and difficulties it will bring on Nigerians, insincerity to recalling of the Destination Inspection agents at the detriment of the Nigeria Customs service.
Worthy as the policy may look on paper, however, government should take a second look at the policy with a view to ensuring that the policy will not amount to a clash of interest between the SON and the Nigeria Customs Service as envisaged in some quarters.
It should also ensure that the policy did not come with added financial burden to the Nigerian importers who earn their living through the importation of used vehicles as they are yet to come out of the shocks that followed the duty and levy increment on such product in order not to push them over to the neighbouring countries who are always on the lookout for loopholes in the nation’s policies so as to cash in on them and maximize their gains and improve their economies.
Also, SON should not just roll out this policy and leave the stakeholders wallowing in darkness rather they should follow it up with aggressive media campaigns and sensitization workshops to better inform the stakeholders on the benefit of the policy, that way, it will make the job easier for them and promote better understanding.
Stakeholders on their own should always take their time to study, consult and seek clarifications on any government policy before coming out in the open to make some utterances either for or against the policy to avoid unnecessarily overheating the already charged polity.
