-
QualityTimesN A T I O N A L
Q U A L I T Y I N F R A S T R U C T U R E
F O R N I G E R I A
building trust for trade
S E P 2 0 1 4
E D I T O R I A L N O T E S
BUILDING TRUST FOR TRADE THE JOURNEY BEGINS
C O N T E N T S
01 Editorial Notes
02 News and Features
04 Partnerships and Events
05 Tools and Resources
010502
In July 2013, the European Union and the United Nations
Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) signed an agreement to
support Nigeria to improve the nations 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.
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
Governments 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.
- From the desk of the Editor.
03
A quarterly newsletter published by the National Quality
Infrastructure Project a project funded by European Unions 10th EDF
Programme for Nigeria.
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily
reflect the views of the European Commission.
This project is funded by the European Union This project is
implemented by UNIDO
-
Q U A L I T Y T I M E S 0 2
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. UNIDOs 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
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)
Lets 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.
SynergiesThe 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 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.
The National Accreditation BodyThe 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.
Developing the National Metrology InstituteThe 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 EU-funded 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 (FMITIT) at AFRIMETS Legal Metrology School in Tunisia in
October 2014.
N E W S A N D F E A T U R E S S E P 2 0 1 4
-
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.
N E W S A N D F E A T U R E S S E P 2 0 1 4
Q U A L I T Y T I M E S 0 3
Protecting Consumers
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.
Conformity Assessment and the Private Sector
In June this year, the UNIDO NQI team held severalconsultative
sessions with the Organised Private Sector (OPS)and some business
member organisations (BMOs) to discoverthe main limitations faced
within the conformity assessmentenvironment. The common challenges
identified includeabundance of business entities operating outside
the formalsector, certification hurdles within SME product markets
andlack of access to accurate information on the means to
satisfythe demands of conformity assessment regimes.
UNIDO has brought in an International Expert on the
PrivateSector who is working with the NQI team to develop
next-stepactions from the recommendations of the working groups.
Acertification roadmap is under development with focus onbuilding
the capacity of SMEs to apply standards in theiroperations.The Bank
of Industry, the National Agency for Food, DrugAdministration and
Control; and the Standards Organisation ofNigeria also provided
insight. The dialogue also resulted in thepublic distribution of
the SON e-Catalogue of Standards.
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.
The NAFDAC Success Story (continued)
-
Q U A L I T Y P A R T N E R S H I P S S E P 2 0 1 4
BEST BEFORE DATE CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL
The Consumer Protection Council, in furtherance of its
mandate,launched a Check the BB (Best Before) Date Campaign in
Abujaon 30 June 2014. This Campaign aims to sensitize the
Nigerianconsumers on the importance of the best before or expiry
datesof products and to make it compelling for consumers to
alwayscheck dates indicating shelf life before making
purchases.
This serves as a method of ensuring that products purchased
andused by consumers are of the required quality.
The BB Date is the expiry date of a product or the length of
timethat a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use
orconsumption. 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.
Dubiousbusinesses capitalise on this to expose consumers to grave
risks byplacing in the market products that are either without BB
Datesindicated, or are past the date of expiry.
This CPC Campaign, which commenced in June 2014, has
similarlybeen flagged off in Lagos. Plans have been concluded
toaggressively spread this Campaign to the grassroots through
theCouncils eight offices in the cities of Abuja, Osogbo, Port
Harcourt,Awka, Minna, Katsina and Bauchi; and also to Lagos and Aba
withthe support of the NQI Project.
Q U A L I T Y T I M E S 0 4
The NQI Project works with
the National Planning
Commission, and the
Department of Food Safety -
Federal Ministry of Health.
Conformity Assessment SeminarProject Log-Frame WorkshopProject
Governance
Organised Private Sector Consultations
EVENTS GALLERY
Laboratory Survey Metrology Training
Metrology Consultations
-
T O O L S A N D R E S O U R C E S S E P 2 0 1 4
Institutional Development Inauguration of the National
Accreditation Body Abuja
Regional Public Consultations on the Quality Policy Calabar,
Minna, Gombe, Enugu
National Consultation on the Quality Policy Abuja
Field Assignments Site Inspection: National Metrology Institute
Enugu Africa Industrialisation Day Celebrations Abuja
Capacity Building NQI National-wide Capacity Building on
International Standards for
Management Systems for Staff of the Consumer Protection Council.
National Steering Committee Study tour on Quality Policy
Development.
NQI Knowledge Management and Impact Reporting Workshop for the
Press.
UPCOMING EVENTS: OCTOBER DECEMBER 2014
Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment Old
Secretariat, Area 1 Garki-Abuja
[email protected]
Delegation of the European Unlon to Nigeria 21st Crescent, Off
Constitution Avenue Central Business District P.M.B. 280
Garki-Abuja Nigeria Tel: (+234) 9-4617800
[email protected]
For Contact and Enquiries:[email protected]
Partnership and Visibility UnitNational Quality Infrastructure
Project
www.nqi-nigeria.org
UNIDO Office in NigeriaUN House, Plot 617/618Central Business
District
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel.: (+234) 9 [email protected]
T O O L S A N D R E S O U R C E S
NQI Reports
NQI Project
Website
Directory of Testing and Calibration
Laboratories
Laboratory Mapping Report
SME Guide
NQI Project Brochure
