YOKOHAMA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The TUV Rheinland Group has been appointed as a service provider by the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) for the off-shore Conformity Assessment Program SONCAP. The memorandum of understanding has been signed in the presence of the Minister of Commerce and Industry Mr. Achike Udenwa, the Director General of SON Dr. John Akanya, Mr. Sebastian Doose, COO TUV Rheinland Japan, and Mr. John Ologbosere, General Manager Laboratories Japan, as delegated for this historical ceremony on April 17th 2009.

TUV Rheinland's designated SONCO offices support the Nigerian economy and their demand for safety and quality with the verification of the process to bring off-shore products into Nigeria's market and to prevent the commercialization of substandard goods.

Manufacturers and exporters are required to provide evidence of a safe design concept and appropriate manufacturer premises to be able to register the products and receive the SONCAP Product Certificate (PC). The actual delivery of goods will be confirmed prior to the shipment and verified according to the shipment details before issuing the SONCAP Certificate (SC), which is essential for the custom clearance procedure. The present compliance program includes safety and quality verification measures and compliance with EMC requirements (implemented in 2009) for particular electronic products categories (e.g. ITE and AV products).

Since summer 2009 it is a requirement in Nigeria that all products (except food, drugs, medicine) comply with Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) or international standards which are sanctioned by the Standards Organization of Nigeria (a full list of exempted products is available at the authority or the nearest SONCO office). Products listed below are examples of the previous compulsory product list requiring approval with particular technical documentation before arrival in Nigeria by an authorized certification body, such as TUV Rheinland:

Toys, electrical products, automotive, chemical, mechanical materials and gas appliances, paper, stationary and protective safety equipment, medical devices, etc.

These requirements have changed over the last few months and are applicable to all products (medical devices, photovoltaic etc.) according to recent SON regulations. Also products that could pose a substantial safety hazard or could affect citizens financially due to substandard design or production are subject to these regulations.

In addition to the typical scope of products for SONCAP, TUV Rheinland has received special authorization for ISO13485 assessments of medical devices for the Nigerian market, which is a new requirement within the SONCAP scheme.

The diligence and global services of TUV Rheinland will strengthen the new collaboration with SON and satisfy the demand for security and quality. Manufacturers also benefit from this collaboration which will focus on the optimization of the shipment process in the future. This takes analytical risk approaches and typical pre-shipment verifications into account and makes sure that products fulfill all requirements with the most suitable process for diligent manufacturers.

About TUV Rheinland Group

TUV Rheinland Group is a leading provider of technical services worldwide. Founded in 1872 and headquartered in Cologne, Germany, the Group employs more than 13,000 people in over 490 locations in 61 countries and generated annual revenues of over € 1.1 billion. The Group's mission and guiding principle is to achieve sustained development of safety and quality in order to meet the challenges arising from the interaction between man, technology, and the environment.