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

010402

In July 2013, the European Union and the United Nations Industrial DevelopmentOrganisation (UNIDO) signed an agreement to support Nigeria to improve the nation’squality infrastructure – in a bid to expand its economic base towards the productive non-oilsectors.

With the provision of a national quality infrastructure, standards and quality controlagencies will be much improved, and key supervisory organisations can be created – wherethe need is identified. What this means is that average Nigerians get ‘quality‘ when theypay for goods and services exchanged in the Nigerian and international markets. This allowsprivate 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 theestablishment of a national accreditation body. The project will also help equip theNational Metrology Institute with essential tools and deliver training support. The privatesector and conformity assessment bodies will be empowered to participate within the NQIframework, with the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) actively involved in training andenlightening 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 thatmake up the Nigerian quality infrastructure, and spotlights the linkages with the FederalGovernment’s economic vision. The editorial team looks at legal and policy developmentactivities, the birth of key institutions that would nurture the quality infrastructureframework and solid partnerships to sustain private sector involvement with a focus on theactions of CPC and NAFDAC to safeguard consumer safety and well-being. Key tools andresources are listed such as the NQI Directory of Testing and Calibration Laboratories inNigeria – 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 Union’s 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. 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

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)

Let’s Talk About the Quality PolicyIn September 2013, the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade andInvestment, Mr. O. Aganga nominated a multi-stakeholder committee whichwas tasked by the Ministry to produce the National Quality Policy forNigeria. Under the supervision of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, theeight sub-committees formed as working groups in January 2014 focused onthe specialist areas of Metrology, Standardisation, Accreditation, ConformityAssessment, Technical Regulations, Certification, and also Communications,and Budget and Planning. UNIDO experts have reviewed the Draft QualityPolicy for Nigeria and the work of the steering committee will be presentedto the Minister soon after the public consultations to raise awareness of theessence of quality systems are concluded in the six regions of Nigeria inNovember 2014

SynergiesThe NQI Project deploys a coordinated strategy to support theimplementation of the National Policy on Food Safety in an arrangementwith 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 aNigerian-based institution charged with providing accreditation services tocertification bodies , testing and calibration laboratories in Nigeria. TheUNIDO Accreditation Expert worked closely with a team drawn from publicinstitutions and the Nigerian private sector to plan the business structure ofthe National Accreditation Body with the necessary reference to proficiencytesting needs. With key business planning and governance documentationnow available, the NAB is to be inaugurated in October 2014.

Developing the National MetrologyInstituteThe Department of Weights andMeasures in the Federal Ministry ofIndustry, Trade and Investment asthe responsibility to oversee thelegal metrology environment inNigeria, while the StandardsOrganisation of Nigeria deals withscientific metrology.

The technical framework finalised byUNIDO experts working on the EU-funded NQI Project will be appliedto develop a National MetrologyInstitute in Nigeria. This work will bedone in tandem with the relatedSON Metrology Laboratory Projectfunded by the Federal Governmentof Nigeria to create a regionalreference laboratory for metrologyin West Africa. The chosen site is inEnugu.UNIDO has supported knowledgetransfer initiatives including a studytour to Mexico and Guatemala inJune 2014, and has also organisedtraining for staff of the Departmentof Weights and Measures (FMITI) atAFRIMETS Legal Metrology School inTunisia 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 resultedfrom 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 NQIProject, UNIDO developed anintegrated work plan with theconsumer rights regulatoryagency – the ConsumerProtection Council (CPC) – tosupport its mandate to protectthe rights of consumers inNigeria. The results of thispartnership will include aformal Charter for Consumers,capacity development for CPCconsumer awareness trainingunits. Experts from UNIDOhave developed trainingmodules to develop thecapacity of CPC personnel toapply standards for qualitymanagement 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 particularabout working on outside samples, but we are going toexpand that area of our operations now.Businesses and public institutions respect us more –especially our peer agencies worldwide – knowing that wecan get our laboratories through the accreditation process.This demonstrates that we are committed to followingstandards that are set globally.For the NAFDAC staff, it improves their morale. They nowknow that their competence is comparable to otherlaboratory personnel globally.

The news that we qualified for accreditation is a big boostfor NAFDAC, as congratulatory messages keep pouring infrom all over the world. The news has spread that NAFDACis one of the highest regulatory agencies that has met therequirements to secure accreditation of its laboratoryoperations by an international accreditation body – A2LA.Businesses and public institutions have more confidence inour laboratory results because they know that laboratoriesthat have received accreditation had to havedemonstrated consistently top-quality performance tomeet the essential requirements to qualify foraccreditation.

In all, this is a very big boost for us and we hope to startgenerating 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 theCouncil’s 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.

Delegation of the EuropeanUnion to Nigeria21st Crescent,Off Constitution AvenueCentral Business DistrictP.M.B. 280 Garki-AbujaNigeriaTel: (+234) 9-4617800delegation-nigeria@eeas.europa.euwww.delnga.ec.europa.eu

Federal Ministry of Industry,Trade and InvestmentOld Secretariat, Area 1Garki-AbujaNigeriainfo@fmti.gov.ngwww.fmti.gov.ng

For Contact and Enquiries:e.ubebe@unido.orgPartnership and Visibility UnitNational Quality Infrastructure Projectwww.nqi-nigeria.org

UNIDO Office in NigeriaUN House, Plot 617/618Central Business DistrictAbuja, Nigeria

Tel.: (+234) 9 2205009office.nigeria@unido.org

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 Seminar

Project Log-Frame Workshop

Project Governance

Organised Private Sector Consultations

EVENTS GALLERY

Laboratory Survey

Metrology Training

Metrology Consultations