Berlin -The Nigerian Embassy in Germany has told the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to check the quality of goods exported from Nigeria to other countries.
The embassy also lamented the imbalance in the volume of trade between Nigeria and Germany.
The Head of Mission at the embassy, Mr Emeka Josakweker, blamed the low trade volume from Nigeria on the poor quality of merchandise exported from Nigeria.
Josakweker said that goods sold abroad were usually packaged wrongly and had poor preservation process “which is unacceptable for international business.
“Our goods cannot compete favourable with goods from other countries. There is need for standardisation and that is where SON should come in.”
He said that the mandate of SON did not confine it to the local market and imported goods alone, adding: “they should also look at exported goods”.
The envoy also said that the low production by the industrial sector in Nigeria was another reason for the imbalance in trade.
“Our manufacturing industries are in comatose, in spite of the huge potentialities.”
According to him, no known Nigerian company is working in Germany, while German companies are operating in all sectors in Nigeria.
He stressed the need for government to support the organised private sector to boost export trade.
Trade between both countries is put at millions of dollars in favour of Germany, but there was a drop in the volume from 2007 to 2009, which the German Embassy in Abuja attributed to the impact of the global economic downturn and lower oil prices.
The main German exports to Nigeria are machinery, vehicles, chemical products and electrical goods.
In 2008, Germany ranked fourth in goods supplies to Nigeria.
Both countries have embarked on a number of initiatives, aimed at deepening business and investment relations.
One of the initiatives was the establishment of the Nigerian-German Business Forum, designed as a vehicle for mobilising direct investments through interactions between investors and businesses.
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Envoy tasks SON on quality of Nigerian exports