‘Influx of fake and substandard goods bleeding local manufacturers’
Government’s efforts at developing local capacity for indigenous manufacturing firms so as to enhance their contributions to the nation’s Gross Domestic Products ((GDP) would be more realizable if leakages that have aided importation of fake and substandard goods into the country are blocked, according to some analysts. Modestus Anaesoronye looks at the trend and what faces the new government as it declares to tackle the menace headlong.
The influx of fake and substandard products into the Nigerian market has remained a growing menace for the Nigerian economy, particularly the local industry.
From Lagos to Aba, Kano and Kaduna, the Nigerian market is flooded with counterfeit products from Asia, mainly China.
Some of the commonly counterfeited products in the local market are textiles and leather products.
The continued importation of these illicit products does not only stifle the local market but also cripple local initiatives and creativity. For instance, experts have expressed worries that the commercial capital city of Abia State, Aba, which for decades has been reputed for the manufacture of leather products, such as shoes and bags, has been experiencing a slide in fortunes due to this activity.
On a daily basis, dozens of trucks disguised in ‘ harmless’ packages bound for the northern cities of Kano and Kaduna make their ways into the country through some of the many porous borders between Niger and Nigeria.
Regrettably, textiles that were previously produced by Nigerians locally and that could compete favourably with foreign ones are now imported from China. They begin their production journeys in China some thousands of kilometers away and illegally boatloaded through the coastal borders of Nigeria with Benin Republic in Cotonou, its capital city. This is often done with the tacit connivance of the custom officials.
While illicit trade of some of these consumer products often draws the attention of government and citizens not so much thought is given to other ones, like tobacco products, which face the same problems with the other consumer goods in terms of illegitimacy. The case of tobacco even holds greater consequences for individuals or consumers and government as those who indulge in the illicit trade of the product often deceive consumers into buying unregulated products that can cause serious harm to their health. Also, government revenue through taxation on the product is whittled as they do not remit taxes to government. Fund generated from this illegal sale is also channeled to other criminal activities such as terrorism and human trafficking.
For some time now, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has regaled the media and Nigerians with sights of public destruction of counterfeit products usually by burning. This demonstration is quite welcome but should go beyond a mere public show aimed at impressing the general public. More efforts should be made by strengthening its borders and keeping an eagle eye on goods that come into the country through there.
Interestingly, same approach has been taken by the government of Switzerland in curtailing illicit trade in watches as a way of protecting the Swiss Watch industry which is reputed as the nation’s cash cow. The Swiss watch industry estimates that counterfeiting of Swiss watches, which is known as the replica watch market, costs the industry billions of dollars each year and “efforts are made to confiscate fake watches and destroy them in spectacular demonstrative ways. In 2010, about 7,000 replica Rolex watches were smooshed with a steamroller in front of press cameras as the culprit was sent to jail for six months. To this effect, it has been working closely with custom officials and regulatory authorities
The size of the problem can be gauged from the way brand owners/manufacturers in the Swiss watch industry have responded by urging those concerned not to take the matter with the seriousness it deserves. A few years ago a consortium of high-end Swiss watch brands known as the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) began a publicity campaign with the message that “Fake Watches Are For Fake People.” It is conscious of the fact that by nature, luxury goods are just that and can be priced outside of what most people can afford. It is aware that “the replica watch industry is a natural tangent of a market for items that are outside of the realm of affordability for most people. Fake watches exist to satisfy the desires of people who cannot afford ‘the real thing’ but want to portray the same status symbols as those who can.”
Same sentiments are echoed among all brand manufacturers in the world including consumable goods like tobacco.
Regulators such as Standards Organisation of Nigeria, CPC, among others require a lot of support to be a ble to curb the menace of smuggling while protecting local industries and jobs.
Modestus Anaesoronye