As the new year starts, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) – Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB) received good news as the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) accepted PAB as a Member of the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) granting the IAF scope extension for Product Certification based on ISO/IEC 17065 on 11 January 2022.

This accreditation scheme for Product Certification adds DTI-PAB’s roster of internationally recognized schemes. Product Certification is the process of verifying that a product, including its associated services and processes, meet the requirements specified in contracts, regulations, or specifications. This scheme also evaluates the technical competence, consistency, and impartiality of product certification bodies based on the general requirements of ISO/IEC 17065, applicable certification scheme requirements and APAC and IAF mandatory documents.

The purpose of the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) is to ensure mutual recognition and acceptance of accredited certification and validation or verification statements between signatories to the MLA.

Accreditations granted by IAF MLA signatories are recognized worldwide based on their equivalent accreditation programs, therefore reducing costs and adding value to businesses and consumers. By reducing the need for multiple assessments, the IAF MLA facilitates international trade by encouraging regional and worldwide acceptance of valid certificates, registrations, and results issued by signatory accreditation bodies.

Accreditation Body members of IAF are admitted to the IAF MLA after a stringent evaluation of its operations by a peer evaluation team that is responsible for checking or assessing the applicant’s compliance with both international standards and IAF requirements. Signatories of the IAF MLA are required to recognize the certificates issued by conformity assessment bodies accredited by all other signatories. Even after being a signatory, the accreditation body must be re-evaluated periodically in order to confirm its continued conformity and competence.

IAF is a global association of accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, processes, services, personnel, validation and verification and other similar programs of conformity assessment. Its primary function is to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment that reduces risk for business and its customers by assuring them that accredited certificates can be relied on.

Signatory status to MLA enables results produced by DTI-PAB’s accredited conformity assessment bodies (CABs) to be accepted by economies represented by MLA co-signatories. The list of MLA signatory members may be viewed at https://iaf.nu/en/accreditation-bodies/.

DTI-PAB is also a signatory member to the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for Quality Management System (QMS), Environmental Management System (EMS), Food Safety Management System (FSMS) and Product Certification from APAC/IAF, and for testing, calibration, medical testing, and inspection of APAC/ILAC.

DTI-PAB offers accreditation of certification body, inspection body, testing and calibration laboratories and other bodies offering conformity assessment services against international standards. DTI-PAB is recognized internationally through its membership to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC), and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality (ACCSQ) Working Group on Accreditation and Conformity Assessment (WG2) and International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF).

For more information on accreditation and PAB services, please contact us at (02) 8895-3995 or e-mail, pab@dti.gov.ph. You may also visit PAB’s website at www.dti.gov.ph/pab.

Release Date: 10 February 2022.