The Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) is the government agency responsible for formulating and implementing quality standards for imported goods and domestically manufactured products in Nigeria. To ensure that the regulated products comply with the country’s technical standards or other international standards that have been approved for implementation, and to protect Nigerian consumers from unsafe products or products that do not meet the standards, the Nigerian National Bureau of Standards has decided to implement regulated products exported to the country. Pre-shipment mandatory conformity assessment procedure (hereinafter referred to as SONCAP).

On March 1, 2013, the Nigerian Bureau of Standards officially released the new SONCAP operation process. In the future, each independent third-party agency will no longer directly issue SONCAP certification. Instead, exporters will apply for product conformity certification (CoC) in the exporting country. The importer then applies for the SC certificate to the Nigerian Bureau of Standards (SON) with a valid CoC.