Shippers under the aegis of the Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS) have lampooned the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) over its sampling method which according to the chippers is gradually turning the Federal Government agency into a warehouse.
Speaking recently at the inaugural Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime Conference held in Lagos, Chairman of SALS, Reverend Jonathan Nicol, stated that the only thing SON officials will not take for sampling are vehicles.
According to him, “government brought the SON to stop substandard goods into Nigeria. But as I speak to you, SON cannot define what is standard or sub-standard because they don’t have the equipment to do so.
“SON officials will pick our cargoes at the ports and take it for sampling. That is the last you will see of that cargo that was taken for sampling. You won’t get your cargo back. At a point, SON was gradually turning into a warehouse.
“Even generators will be taken away for sampling. The only thing SON officials did not take was a car.”