THE Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), on Tuesday, trained no fewer than 100 manufacturers and producers of exportable products from the Southeast, on non-mandatory products certification.

The Executive Director of NEPC, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, said that the training was aimed at enhancing global market access for Nigeria’s exportable products.

Awolowo, who was represented at the training by the NEPC Southeast Regional Coordinator, Mr Arnold Jackson, said that the council needed to ensure that local entrepreneurs thrived at the international market.

He said that penetration of international markets for processed and value-added products, particularly food items, required additional voluntary certification.

“Accessing global markets has become stricter due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which requires tougher inspection regimes at Border Control points in importing countries.

“These stricter and increasingly competitive requirements imply that exportable food items must strive to acquire additional non-mandatory certifications,” he said.

According to him, global certifications were trusted by consumers and end-users of products and services and are attained based on the reputation of the certifying bodies.

“To ensure the success of this training, the council engaged a reputable certification expert, TopCertifier, based in Bangalore, India, to provide certification awareness training to our manufacturers.

“The India-based company has successfully executed over 3,000 projects across 20 countries,” he said.

Awolowo said that the council had conducted similar awareness trainings in Lagos, Owerri, Kano, and Port Harcourt, with various degrees of success.

“We encourage Nigerian exporting companies to strive and implement full certification, through a Conformity Assessment Body, geared at easing global market entry for their products.

“This will boost Nigeria’s non-oil export portfolio,” Awolowo said.

In a goodwill message , the Director General, Nsukka Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, Mr Dan Ochi, commended the NEPC for their various awareness programmes in the Southeast.

Ochi said that entrepreneurs in the region had never had it so good, adding that the passion exhibited by the regional coordinator of the NEPC was unprecedented .

He appealed to manufacturers of exportable goods in the region to synergise and tap into the benefits offered by the African Continental Free Trade Zone.

Also, Mr Afolabi Bello of the Product Development Department of NEPC, said that the Southeast had a good mix of producers, merchants, manufacturers and others.

He said that the exportable goods produced from the region must, however, be certified in compliance with the laws of the receiving country.

NAN

– Mar. 23, 2021 @ 18:55 GMT