The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) says it will spend about 15 million Euros (about N10.25 billion) as intervention fund to ensure the development and accreditation of Nigerian laboratories internationally.

The Deputy Director, Trade, Capacity Building branch of UNIDO, Mr Bernado Calzadilla-Sarmiento,  newsmen in Abuja on Sunday that the fund would cover training of personnel.

Calzadilla-Sarmiento said that the fund would also cover the provision of technical assistance, database, studies, consultancy and equipment.

“The project, which is in line with UNIDO’s framework of trade capacity building, is basically aimed at reducing technical barriers which countries are faced with when doing business,’’ he said.

The UNIDO official stated that with the certification of the laboratories Made-in-Nigeria goods would be accepted and recognised by other countries.

The deputy director said UNIDO was presently working on the laboratories of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as well as four other laboratories.

He said this was with a view to getting them certified.

“What we are doing now is we are working on the laboratory at NAFDAC.

“This will mean that if this laboratory is accredited, when we export to somewhere, they know that they can trust and recognise the test that was done by the laboratory.

“Because they have the competence, they have the equipment and they have the quality management system, and this is very important.

“So, in the long term, we want to do more because we learnt that not all the laboratories complied with standards. So, in all, we are working with about five laboratories in the country for now,’’ Calzadilla-Sarmiento said.

He said there was also the need for Nigeria to comply with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement.

He said UNIDO was in this regard trying to build the West Africa Quality System that would enable the country export her products abroad.

This, he pointed out, would also help in checking the influx of substandard products into the country. “This is bad for the economy.’’

“People need to know that your certification system is built on the basis of confidence. That is, it is accredited and recognised internationally,’’ the UNIDO official said.

He said there were different levels of laboratories, namely meteorological, chemical, calibration and testing.

The UNIDO official said further that a national meteorology institute would be developed to ensure conformity with international measuring standards and instruments for mass, length, volume, temperature and force.

He expressed delight that Nigeria was making progress in this regard, saying UNIDO could bring in international expertise where and when it was needed.

He said that the project which was likely to commence at the end of the year or early 2013 would run for four years, disclosing that it was in the final formulation stage for now.