Nigeria to host West Africa quality programme

Nigeria to host West Africa quality programme
Qasim Akinreti, Lagos 

Nigeria is set to host the West Africa Quality programme in Lagos as it joins the rest of the world to mark the World Metrology Day on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 in Lagos.

 According to the release from the Dr Joel Akinbolawa, National Technical Coordinator of the West Africa Quality Programme, the programme aims at fostering compliance with international trade rules and regulations, particularly the World Trade Organization agreements on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, through the establishment and strengthening of national and regional quality infrastructure for the entire West African region.

 He stated that the West African Quality Programme would also contribute to the development of an enabling business environment that would allow enterprises to produce goods that meet market requirements, including public and private standards.

The event to be hosted by the Director General of Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Dr Joseph Ikemefuna Odumodu, will featured an Enterprise Certification Special event, where participants of SON training scheme will be awarded certificates on Tuesday, July 12, 2011.

The theme of the World Metrology Day is “Chemical measurements for our life, our future”.

 Metrology, which is the science of measurement is utilized in almost all aspects of our daily life and is very important in trade and development globally.

Measurement provides the basis for industrial development and is of utmost importance to manufacturing, product testing, and food processing; fair trade and consumer protection in the domestic and international arenas; consumer confidence; health and safety; environmental monitoring; adoption of new technology and scientific advancements.

It also provides the framework in which manufacturers can demonstrate compliance with specifications within an internally harmonized system.