Philippines is Signatory to Multilateral Arrangement

The Philippines, through the BPS Accreditation Scheme (BAS) is now a member of the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) - Multilateral Arrangement (MLA) for Quality Management System  (QMS). 

With this development, the ISO 9000 Certificates issued by Certification Bodies accredited by the BAS will be recognized by all other members of the MLA that include the United States of America, European Commission, Australia-New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, and India. 

The Bureau of Product Standards Accreditation Scheme (BAS) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has successfully completed a stringent evaluation and peer review process of its system, organization, personnel, and procedures for the accreditation of quality management systems registration/ certification organisations and has signed a MLA among members of the PAC/IAF.

Under the terms of this arrangement, the BAS shall undergo a regular re-evaluation to ensure that the accredited certification bodies are maintaining the required level of competence and conformance according to the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 61 (General requirements for assessment and accreditation of certification/registration bodies) and related PAC guidance documents; and shall endure that all its accredited Quality System Assessment and Certification/ Registration bodies comply with ISO/IEC Guide 62 (General requirements for bodies operating assessment and certification/registration of quality systems) and related PAC guidance documents. 
With the MLA, the ISO 9000 Certificates awarded by organisations accredited by BAS are recognised as equivalent, and users of the services of these BAS-accredited organizations can have the same confidence in organisations accredited by one PAC/IAF member as in those accredited by other PAC/IAF members. The membership opens the international market to Philippine companies with ISO 9000 Certificates awarded by BAS-accredited certification bodies. Simultaneously, it provides the check and balance for consumers to be ensured that products and services for their purchase and use are based on standards.

Accreditation is the recognition of the body’s competence to undertake a certain task or activity.  To date, the BAS has accredited two certification bodies, namely, Certification International Philippines, Inc. (CIPI), and SGS Philippines, Inc.

DTI-BPS enjoins everyone to avail of themselves the services of these bodies as they are assured of professional, competent, reliable, and impartial certification processes.