SONCAP Certification Process

SONCAP Compliance Procedures

Under the import requirements of the Federal Government of Nigeria, in order to clear their goods, importers need to have the following documents for every consignment of regulated products:

• a Product Certificate (PC), issued by Cotecna
• a Certificate of Conformity (COC), called the SONCAP Certificate (SC), issued by Cotecna

Obtaining the SC from Cotecna is based on first having a valid Product Certificate (PC). The PC is required for the opening of the Form M, which is a document needed to pre-declare the goods to be imported in Nigeria. There are three types of PCs, as detailed below.

The 3 Certification Routes of SONCAP

Exporters can obtain a Product Certificate (PC) and a SONCAP Certificate (SC) through Cotecna using one of three levels of compliance, called “Routes”. SON has defined three Routes that are applicable as assessment of conformity procedures for products regulated under the SONCAP program.

Route A: Unregistered or Unlicensed Products
This route is recommended for infrequent exporters.
Learn more.

Route B: Registered Products
Exporters/manufacturers that have frequent shipments to Nigeria are recommended to apply for Product/SONCAP certification under Route B if they have a Quality System in place in order to determine that the manufactured products are produced consistently over time with the same quality product.
Learn more.

Route C: Licensed Products
Manufacturers/producers that have regular shipments to Nigeria, and/or those who have demonstrated an excellent level of compliance under Route B, are qualified to apply for Product Licensing under Route C.
Learn more.

Request a SONCAP Certificate

To learn more about the SONCAP programme, or to get a certificate for your exports, please send us a request.