QualityTimes
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NATIONAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR NIGERIA
A quarterly newsletter published by the National Quality Infrastructure Project – a project funded by European Union’s 10th EDF Programme for Nigeria.
E D I T O R I A L
building trust for trade
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BUILDING TRUST FOR TRADE – THE JOURNEY BEGINS In July 2013, the European Union and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) signed an agreement to support Nigeria to improve the nation’s quality infrastructure – in a bid to expand its economic base towards the productive non-oil sectors. With the provision of a national quality infrastructure, standards and quality control agencies will be much improved, and key supervisory organisations can be created – where the need is identified. What this means is that average Nigerians get ‘quality‘ when they pay for goods and services exchanged in the Nigerian and international markets. This allows private sector businesses to grow to be more competitive, while guaranteeing consumers’ rights are protected as they receive good value for every Naira spent.
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Editorial Notes
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News and Features
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Partnerships and Events
With EUR 12 million funds from the European Union, the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) project will support the promulgation of a National Quality Policy and the establishment of a national accreditation body. The project will also help equip the National Metrology Institute with essential tools and deliver training support. The private sector and conformity assessment bodies will be empowered to participate within the NQI framework, with the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) actively involved in training and enlightening the Nigerian populace on issues of quality and consumer rights and remedies. This first issue of Quality Times guides us through the evolution of the five systems that make up the Nigerian quality infrastructure, and spotlights the linkages with the Federal Government’s economic vision. The editorial team looks at legal and policy development activities, the birth of key institutions that would nurture the quality infrastructure framework and solid partnerships to sustain private sector involvement with a focus on the actions of CPC and NAFDAC to safeguard consumer safety and well-being. Key tools and resources are listed such as the NQI Directory of Testing and Calibration Laboratories in Nigeria – a dynamic database of core conformity assessment services provided in Nigeria.
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- From the desk of the Editor.
This project is funded by the European Union
This project is implemented by UNIDO
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
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The work of the NQI team seeks to instil a ‘quality way of life’ that leads to improved value in business , communities and homes. Standards, conformity assessment and quality control bodies are set to be developed through the NQI Project to guarantee the integrity of the new quality infrastructure.
Let’s Talk About the Quality Policy In September 2013, the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. O. Aganga nominated a multi-stakeholder committee which was tasked by the Ministry to produce the National Quality Policy for Nigeria. Under the supervision of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, the eight sub-committees formed as working groups in January 2014 focused on the specialist areas of Metrology, Standardisation, Accreditation, Conformity Assessment, Technical Regulations, Certification, and also Communications, and Budget and Planning. UNIDO experts have reviewed the Draft Quality Policy for Nigeria and the work of the steering committee will be presented to the Minister soon after the public consultations to raise awareness of the essence of quality systems are concluded in the six regions of Nigeria in November 2014 Synergies The NQI Project deploys a coordinated strategy to support the implementation of the National Policy on Food Safety in an arrangement with the Department of Food Safety at the Federal Ministry of Health.
The National Accreditation Body The National Quality Infrastructure is supporting the establishment of a Nigerian-based institution charged with providing accreditation services to certification bodies , testing and calibration laboratories in Nigeria. The UNIDO Accreditation Expert worked closely with a team drawn from public institutions and the Nigerian private sector to plan the business structure of the National Accreditation Body with the necessary reference to proficiency testing needs. With key business planning and governance documentation now available, the NAB is to be inaugurated in October 2014.
NAFDAC DG Affirms Accreditation is Good for Business The NQI Project team caught up with Dr. Paul Orhii, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, shortly after the NAFDAC Central Laboratory in Oshodi received international accreditation for its Mycotoxins and Pesticides testing operations. UNIDO’s technical assistance under the regional West African Quality Programme supported the laboratory to meet the requirements for accreditation. An excerpt from the interview granted by Dr. Orhii What determined the decision to pursue international accreditation for the NAFDAC Mycotoxins and Pesticides Laboratory under the European Union-Funded West African Quality Programme? DR. ORHII: First and foremost, at NAFDAC we are working to standardise most of our procedures and operations to
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Developing the National Metrology Institute The Department of Weights and Measures in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment as the responsibility to oversee the legal metrology environment in Nigeria, while the Standards Organisation of Nigeria deals with scientific metrology. The technical framework finalised by UNIDO experts working on the EUfunded NQI Project will be applied to develop a National Metrology Institute in Nigeria. This work will be done in tandem with the related SON Metrology Laboratory Project funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria to create a regional reference laboratory for metrology in West Africa. The chosen site is in Enugu. UNIDO has supported knowledge transfer initiatives including a study tour to Mexico and Guatemala in June 2014, and has also organised training for staff of the Department of Weights and Measures (FMITI) at AFRIMETS Legal Metrology School in Tunisia in October 2014.
international levels. We have been upgrading all our laboratory facilities, refurbishing them and also training our staff in keeping with international standards. The only way we can show that our operations are at an international level is to obtain international accreditation. Through this exercise, our laboratory facilities can be appraised by inspectors, qualified in the evaluation and accreditation of laboratories, who look at – • Our processes • Our existing infrastructure • Our personnel – especially the level of training they have received and the level of commitment they demonstrate to following standards. It is only then, the inspectors are able to give us their assessment feedback. This is what determined our desire to seek accreditation… (continued on page 3)
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Conformity Assessment and the Private Sector
Protecting Consumers
In June this year, the UNIDO NQI team held several consultative sessions with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and some business member organisations (BMOs) to discover the main limitations faced within the conformity assessment environment. The common challenges identified include abundance of business entities operating outside the formal sector, certification hurdles within SME product markets and lack of access to accurate information on the means to satisfy the demands of conformity assessment regimes.
Within the context of the NQI Project, UNIDO developed an integrated work plan with the consumer rights regulatory agency – the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) – to support its mandate to protect the rights of consumers in Nigeria. The results of this partnership will include a formal Charter for Consumers, capacity development for CPC consumer awareness training units. Experts from UNIDO have developed training modules to develop the capacity of CPC personnel to apply standards for quality management systems.
UNIDO has brought in an International Expert on the Private Sector who is working with the NQI team to develop next-step actions from the recommendations of the working groups. A certification roadmap is under development with focus on building the capacity of SMEs to apply standards in their operations. The Bank of Industry, the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control; and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria also provided insight. The dialogue also resulted in the public distribution of the SON e-Catalogue of Standards.
The NAFDAC Success Story (continued)
Here at NAFDAC, we began to pay attention, and to test even the products that are consumed within the country to ensure that they were compliant with regards to the contents of these contaminants. What concrete benefits and advantages have resulted from this achievement – for the NAFDAC Central Lab, and for the Organisation as a whole? DR. ORHII: In the laboratories of course, the revenue will increase because many request our services– they trust our laboratory. Both national and international producers are in contact to see if they can have their products tested in our laboratory. It builds confidence in our systems at NAFDAC. Businesses are now queuing up to use the testing services provided by NAFDAC, and existing clients want to increase their business with us. Q U A L I T Y
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Prior to receiving this accreditation, we were not particular about working on outside samples, but we are going to expand that area of our operations now. Businesses and public institutions respect us more – especially our peer agencies worldwide – knowing that we can get our laboratories through the accreditation process. This demonstrates that we are committed to following standards that are set globally. For the NAFDAC staff, it improves their morale. They now know that their competence is comparable to other laboratory personnel globally. The news that we qualified for accreditation is a big boost for NAFDAC, as congratulatory messages keep pouring in from all over the world. The news has spread that NAFDAC is one of the highest regulatory agencies that has met the requirements to secure accreditation of its laboratory operations by an international accreditation body – A2LA. Businesses and public institutions have more confidence in our laboratory results because they know that laboratories that have received accreditation had to have demonstrated consistently top-quality performance to meet the essential requirements to qualify for accreditation. In all, this is a very big boost for us and we hope to start generating some real income from that laboratory now.” 0 3
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“BEST BEFORE DATE” – CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL
The NQI Project works with…
The Consumer Protection Council, in furtherance of its mandate, launched a “Check the BB (Best Before) Date” Campaign in Abuja on 30 June 2014. This Campaign aims to sensitize the Nigerian consumers on the importance of the best before or expiry dates of products and to make it compelling for consumers to always check dates indicating shelf life before making purchases. This serves as a method of ensuring that products purchased and used by consumers are of the required quality.
… the National Planning Commission, and the Department of Food Safety -
The BB Date is the expiry date of a product or the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use or consumption. It applies to foods, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, batteries, skin-care products, tyres, paints and many other items. Many Nigerians either do not understand or plainly ignore the BB (Best Before) Date on products while making purchases. Dubious businesses capitalise on this to expose consumers to grave risks by placing in the market products that are either without BB Dates indicated, or are past the date of expiry. This CPC Campaign, which commenced in June 2014, has similarly been flagged off in Lagos. Plans have been concluded to aggressively spread this Campaign to the grassroots through the Council’s eight offices in the cities of Abuja, Osogbo, Port Harcourt, Awka, Minna, Katsina and Bauchi; and also to Lagos and Aba – with the support of the NQI Project.
Federal Ministry of Health.
Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria 21st Crescent, Off Constitution Avenue Central Business District P.M.B. 280 Garki-Abuja Nigeria Tel: (+234) 9-4617800 delegation-nigeria@eeas.europa.eu www.delnga.ec.europa.eu Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment Old Secretariat, Area 1 Garki-Abuja Nigeria
info@fmti.gov.ng www.fmti.gov.ng
EVENTS GALLERY
For Contact and Enquiries: e.ubebe@unido.org Partnership and Visibility Unit National Quality Infrastructure Project www.nqi-nigeria.org Laboratory Survey
UNIDO Office in Nigeria UN House, Plot 617/618 Central Business District Abuja, Nigeria
Project Governance
Tel.: (+234) 9 2205009 office.nigeria@unido.org Metrology Training
Conformity Assessment Seminar
Organised Private Sector Consultations Project Log-Frame Workshop Metrology Consultations
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