By Ginika Okoye
The Federal Government says it will purchase up-to-date equipment to bridge the gap between metering errors noticed in petroleum products and the required standard.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Nura Rimi, said this at a three-day workshop on the Administration of the International Organisation of Legal Metrology Certification System (OIML-CS) in Abuja on Tuesday.
The workshop was organised for zonal coordinators of Weight and Measure Department of the ministry.
Rimi, represented by Mr Dafung Sule, the Director, Federal Produce Inspectorate Services of the ministry, said the equipment would be purchased at the implementation of the 2024 budget.
He said the workshop was part of efforts to curb the losses currently being lost which was caused by poor metering.
”What has brought us here is one of the things we have to do to ensure that we do not loose the billions that we are currently loosing that is to build our capacity and that is just one aspect of it.
”On the equipment, in the 2024 budget which has not kick started, there are a lot of equipment that are lined up for purchase by the weights and measures department.
“This will bridge the gap between the errors being noticed in the metering and the required standard,” he said.
On the payment of the OIML subscription which the country was owing, the permanent secretary said it would be paid by September.
He said the payment would help to give the country the kind of outlook that the international has given us.
OIML is an “international standard-setting body” in the sense of the World Trade Organisation’s Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement.
On his part, Mr Bamidele Olajide, the Director, Weight and Measure Department of the ministry, said it was part of the preparation towards signing up to the OIML-CS.
The implication of signing up to the System was that signatories would be obliged to accept pattern approval certificates and test results from other countries.
”The OIML-CS will promote fair and accurate trade transactions by ensuring that trade measuring instruments used in Nigeria are fit for purpose.
”The OIML-CS will also promote trade among countries by removing technical barriers to trade.
”This is achieved by removing the need to subject imported trade measuring instruments to another round of conformity assessment tests,” he said.
Some of the zonal coordinators, who spoke at the workshop emphasised the need for the upgrade of their working equipment and tools.
Mr Garba Mustapha, the South-South Zonal Coordinator of the Weight and Measure Department, FMITI, said the zone had the potential to generate revenue for the country.
Mustapha said the potential were being drawn back by obsolete or poor equipment.
Mrs Cordelia Nwachukwu, from the Lagos State Zonal Office, said that most people were unaware of the functions of the department.
Nwachukwu, who said that legal metrology was dynamic, suggested the use of technology to meet with international trends.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the department is saddled with the responsibility to ensure that all commercial transactions involving measurement are fair, accurate and legal with a view to protecting the consumers.
NAN reports that the workshop attracted zonal coordinators of the department from the six geo-political zones. (NAN)
