THE Federal Government has directed the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to reduce  the presence of fake and substandard goods in the market.

Speaking at the launch of Products and Services Listing and Monitoring Programme (ProServe), organised by the CPC in Abuja, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, said he would give the two agencies till 2013 to reduce the presence of substandard products in the market to at most 15 per cent.

The minister said the move was in line with his resolve to implement the  policies of the Federal Government.

 Following the charge by President Goodluck Jonathan that all ministers must also sign performance contracts with permanent secretaries and heads of government agencies under them, Mr Aganga revealed  that he would start by signing the contracts with Directors- General of SON and CPC, Joseph Odumodu and Mrs Ify Umenyi, respectively.

He noted that the Federal Government had identified key challenges troubling the investment climate, adding that Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji, had promised the Federal Executive Council (FEC) that uninterrupted power would be restored to the nine industrial cities by 2013.

“The minister of power, while signing the performance contract with the president, promised to restore uninterrupted power supply to the nine industrial cities by next year,” he said.

Reiterating government’s plea to Nigerians to patronise Made in Nigeria products in order to grow the local industries and create jobs locally, Aganga pledged government’s determination to revive the petrochemical and mining industries.

Nigerian consumers, he said, had the right to consume quality products which they purchase with their money, charging SON and CPC to wipe out fake products from the market.

Speaking earlier, CPC boss, Mrs Umenyi said ProServe “is designed to introduce a listing regime that would require all genuine manufacturers and certified service providers in all sectors of the Nigerian economy to enlist their products and services for proper monitoring by the Council.”

According to her, ProServe was also intended to be used as a strong instrument towards ensuring the certification of all products and services by the national standards body and sector specific regulators.