The Standards Organisation of Nigeria on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 sealed the premises of Samsung West Africa in Victoria Island, Lagos, for failure to register some of its products being marketed in Nigeria.
Bola Fashina, the spokesperson of SON, revealed this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.
Fashina said that the action was in accordance with the provisions of the SON Act 14 of 2015.
According to him, the Act provides for every product imported into Nigeria to be registered with SON for traceability and confirmation of quality status.
Fashina said that SON records showed that many Samsung products in the Nigerian markets were not registered.
He explained that the facility would be reopened once the company registered all its products as required by law.
“We are in the era of ensuring ease of doing business in Nigeria within the laws of the land,” Fashina said.
He said that the representatives of the company claimed ignorance of the need to register the products, and that they did not import nor sold products but only marketing them.
Fashina said that it was the duty of the distributors to register the products.
Samsung Nigeria has reacted to this development in an e-mailed statement to The Trent on Wednesday, July 19, 2017, the company denied any wrong-doing and said it was co-operating with the Nigerian authorities.
“We want to confirm that the office of Samsung Electronics West Africa in Lagos was yesterday besieged by the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON),” the unsigned statement said.
“SON’s action was apparently due to a miscommunication between both parties regarding the registration of products in Nigeria. Samsung is working in collaboration with SON to reach an amicable resolution of the matter.
“Samsung also wishes to reiterate that it is a best practice company, with footprints in over 79 countries worldwide. As an ethical company, Samsung will not willfully disrespect the laws and regulations in countries where it operates,” the statement ended.
