MAN enjoined to deepen knowledge of NESREA activities, functions

ALIYU JAURO, THE DIREC TOR GENERAL OF THE NA TIONAL ENVI RONMENTAL STANDARDS ENFORCEMENT AGENCY (NESREA) has told members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), at the biannual interactive forum organised by the sectoral and regulatory authorities division of MAN, to familiarise themselves with the functions and activities of NESREA to establish a good working relationship.

Jauro urged manufacturers to get acquainted with the activities and functionalities of the agency which, according to him, include but not limited to the core functions of NESREA, areas of compliance, all fees payable to the agency, and other duties and responsibilities.

The NESREA director general also unfolded the expectations of the agency from the manufacturers, noting that the adoption of environment friendly technologies in their respective industrial operations is important.

He stated that complying with the provisions of the national environmental regulations, including intended producers responsibility (EPR); the affluent and emission standards, familiarisation with the regulations to keep abreast of the legal requirement are some of the agency’s expectations .

He stressed that ignorance of the law is not an excuse, and implementation of recommendations of respective environmental audit reports of their facilities.

According to the director general, other expectations are implementation of the respective environmental management plan, investing in pollution abatement technologies in their facilities, ensuring environmental sound management of their waste and taking necessary steps to ensure the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility Programme (EPRP) by registering with the producer responsibility organisations (PROs) as it relates to their sectors.

Such sectors are food and beverage subsector - food beverage recycling alliance (FBRA), electrical/ electronic sector-E-waste Producer Organisation of Nigeria (EPRON), and battery sub-sector-alliance for responsibility battery recycling (ARBR).

While explaining the importance of the producer responsibility organisations (PROs), Jauro stated that those sectors that had set up their PROs might not have their EARs renewed without showing evidence of registration with the PRO.

Disclosing that the fees to be paid by manufacturers include environmental audit report (EAR) certification fee N250,000, environmental management plan (EMP) certification fee for micro scale facilities N25,000; permit processing fee N20,000 for both waste and toxic substances and air quality permit, Eco-guard processing fee N40,000; as well as Eco-guard certification fee, which he said is based on categories and criteria, such as land size, location, storage capacity, etc.