MAN seeks review of law against dumping, smuggling, counterfeiting
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urged the Federal Government to review the country’s law prohibiting dumping, smuggling and counterfeiting, as it will help protect the nation’s ailing economy.
President of MAN, Dr. Frank Jacobs Udemba, who made this call in on Thursday in Lagos while addressing pressmen on a special press briefing on MAN Buy Made-In-Nigeria Products Campaign, noted that the association had been running campaign on buy made-in-Nigeria goods.
Udemba noted that the Government remains the largest single spender in the economy, adding that it could drive industrial development and economic growth by increasing its patronage of locally made products.
He said: “I am pleased to inform you that within a short period of the commencement of this advocacy, the campaign made reasonable progress by necessitating the call for the review of the current Public Procurement Act, introducing the Executive Order on improved Government Patronage of ‘Made-in-Nigeria” products and the current build up against smuggling and counterfeiting activities in the Nigerian economy.
“It is pertinent to note that Public Procurement is not just mere purchases but a strategic fiscal tool that has been used by other countries, including advanced nations to develop their manufacturing sector.
“Most intriguing is the fact that when we buy foreign goods, we expand the industrial base of the producing country, thereby creating more jobs there, to the detriment of our local economy. In contrast, when we patronise made-in-Nigeria products, we expand our industrial base, create more jobs and reduce the human misery brought about by poverty in the country.”
He pointed out that the commencement of the advocacy campaign, MAN and ENABLE2 undertook an exhaustive diagnosis of some of the challenges of local manufacturers in Nigeria, stressing that the result of the diagnosis proved that the manufacturing sector has huge inventory of unsold finished products occasioned partly by poor patronage of locally manufactured products by the Government, backlashes from smuggling and counterfeiting activities as well as the general apathy of the consuming public towards locally produced products, laced with the high penchant for foreign goods.
MAN president commended the Federal Government for supporting the Made-In-Nigeria campaign and for introducing the Executive Order.
He maintained that MAN believes that the quest of the Federal Government to promote Made-in-Nigeria goods can be best achieved if the Executive Order on patronage of local products is based on Sector-Specific Margins of Preferences (MOP).
He said: “The beauty of adopting MOP is the fact that it recognises the peculiarities within each sector and defines the prosperity or otherwise of operators in these sectors. In the first phase of the advocacy campaign, the following five MAN sectors were selected: Textiles, wearing apparel, carpet, leather/leather footwear; Chemical and Pharmaceuticals; Pulp, Paper & Paper products, Printing & Publishing; Basic metal, Iron and steel and fabricated metal products and Wood & Wood Products Industry”.
Sam Nzeh
