The SONCAP is an offshore and pre-shipment certification scheme to monitor, check and control the importation of regulated products into Nigeria. It comprises a set of conformity assessments and verification procedures applicable to all SON-regulated products imported into Nigeria.
The Federal Government of Nigeria introduced the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) to address the number of unsafe products entering the country and to eliminate their subsequent risks to public health and safety.
The scheme employs four mandatory processes of verification of product quality to meet specification standards such as NIS, International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), and International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) among others.
The processes are:
- Product Certificate 1 (otherwise known as PC1 or Unregistered)
- Product Certificate 2 (otherwise known as PC2 or Registered Status)
- Product Certificate 3 (otherwise known as PC3 or Licensed Status)
- SONCAP Certificate (also known as SC)
These documents are mandatory for the importation and Customs clearance of SONCAP-regulated goods, as stipulated in the revised Import Guidelines, under the import requirement of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
