The Federal Government has inaugurated a project steering committee to drive the implementation of Nigeria’s Accreditation and Conformity Assessment Platform.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mr. Olajide Odewale, inaugurated the committee in Abuja.
Mr Odewale who was represented by Mrs. Elizabeth Eghareva, Director, International Cooperation in the ministry charged the members of the NACAP steering committee to ensure national compliance with all provision of the Accreditation and Conformity Assessment Policy.
He also urged the committee to live up to its responsibility of promoting the use of accreditation as a decision-making mechanism in government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
This, he noted, would help to ensure that all accreditation and conformity assessment agencies such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, among others, conform to international best practices in their operations.
Odewale stressed the need for members of the committee to be guided by the constitution of NACAP in compliance with the Presidential Executive Order No. 2(1) of February 2017.
The order stipulates that “MDAs shall ensure that any professional practice in Nigeria must be duly registered with the appropriate regulatory body in Nigeria.”
Odewale said by adhering to standards, goods exported to other countries from Nigeria would be accepted globally, adding that it would also increase the country’s trade through consumer confidence.