Pursuant to section 7(3), Chapter 2, Book IV of the 1987 Administrative Code: Republic Act 7394; Executive Order No. 133; 1987 and Executive Order No. 913, assessment and related governing are hereby promulgated for the guidance of all concerned.


1.1       This Department Administrative Order prescribes further rules and guidance's to implement the BPS accreditation scheme for conformity assessment bodies.

1.2       The BPS accreditation scheme shall cover the following:

- Quality System (ISO 9000 or QS 9000) Certifying bodies

- Environmental Management System (ISO 14000) Certifying bodies

- Product Inspection Bodies

For the purpose of this Order, the following definitions shall apply:

2.1       Accreditation — A scheme operated by BPS that gives formal cognition, under documented procedures and guidelines, that an organization or an individual is competent to carry out conformity assessment works and training.

2.2       BPS — Bureau of Product Standards.

2.3       Certification — A process by which an independent body gives written assurance that the management system of an organization conforms to established standards or guidelines. Under this Order, the management system is the quality management system described in the ISO 9000 standards series or environmental management system described in the ISO 14000 standards series.

2.4       Certification body — An independent body that conducts assessments and provides certification as a service.

2.5       Conformity Assessment — A process that determines whether an organization or individual, products, process or service meets the requirements of standards or guides. Under this order, the process refers to certification to ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 standards series and the provision of training, inspection and consultancy.

2.6       DTI — Department of Trade and Industry.

2.7       Inspection — A process of verifying conformity of a product or process by observing, measuring or testing against the requirements of standards. Under this Order, it involves product assessment or factory assessment or both.

2.8       Inspection — An independent organization that performs inspection services on its own or on behalf of BPS, particularly for the Philippines.

2.9       ISO — International Organization for Standardization.

2.10    IEC — International Electrotechnical Commission.

2.11    PCAAC — Philippine Conformity Assessment Accreditation Council.


3.1       PCAAC

3.1.1   The PCAAC shall operate as the governing board of the BPS accreditation scheme and shall have the following terms of reference:

a.      Formulates policies pertaining to the operation of the BPS accreditation scheme.

b.      Oversees the implementation of the policies relating to accreditation by the Director of BPS.

c.       Oversees the finances for the operation of the BPS accreditation scheme.

d.      Establishes policies on appeals and complaints regarding the BPS accreditation scheme.

e.      Formulates other measures to ensure that the BPS accreditation scheme shall be transparent, competent and effective.

3.1.2   Composition of PCAAC

3.1.2.1     Undersecretary or Assistant Secretary supervising the Consumer Welfare Group of the Department of Trade and Industry, as Chairman.

3.1.2.2     Director of the Bureau of Product Standards, as member.

3.1.2.3     Director of the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion, as member.

3.1.2.4     Director of the Bureau of Small and Medium Business Development, as member.

3.1.2.5     Director of the Board of Investments, as member.

3.1.2.6     Representative from the Philippine Exporters Confederation, as member.

3.1.2.7     Representative from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as member.

3.2       BPS

3.2.1        Operates, under the policy direction of the PCAAC, the BPS accreditation scheme following the requirements described in the ISO/IEC Guide 61 — "General Criteria for Bodies operating an accreditation scheme".

3.2.2        To provide formal recognition to an applicant body or individual that is found by BPS to be competent to carry out third party assessment and certification of management systems in accordance with established standards and/or guidelines as follows:

	Standards/Guidelines
a. For quality management system	ISO 9000/QS 9000 Quality System Standards Series
b. For environmental management	ISO 14000 Environmental Management System Standards Series
c. For product inspection	Requirements of BPS Philippine Standards (PS) Certification Mark and DAO 01:1997 Series

3.2.3   Under the scheme, inspection bodies may also be accredited to perform factory and/or product assessments on behalf of BPS' Philippine Standards (PS) Certification Mark Shame.

3.2.4   Accept and process application for accreditation.

3.2.5   Assess applicant certification bodies, inspection bodies and assessors, particularly in terms of their organizational independence, their procedures for conducting conformity assessment and granting certification, and the qualification of their assessors, in accordance with the requirements of Philippine National Standards, ISO/IEC Guide 62 and 39, and any relevant normative documents that the BPS may find acceptable.

3.2.6   Appoint or subcontract, where necessary, external assessors to assess applicants for accreditation, provided these assessors are acceptable to the latter.

3.2.7   Issues certificate of accreditation to applicants that have been assessed and found by BPS to be competent to carry out third party assessments.

3.2.8   Suspend, cancel or withdraw accreditation, after due process, bodies found not consistently complying with the terms and conditions of the accreditation.

3.2.9   Conduct surveillance visits to accredited bodies.

3.2.10 Specify rules governing the design and use of Marks by accredited bodies.

3.2.11 Maintain and publish a registry of accredited bodies.

3.2.12 Collect fees.

3.2.13 Upon direction from PCAAC, creates committees to which defined activities are delegated.

3.2.14 Apply to regional and international accreditation bodies for the recognition of the BPS accreditation scheme and of its national registry of quality system assessors.

3.2.15 Undertake measures to continuously upgrade to international levels the capability of the national accreditation scheme.


4.1       The body applying for accreditation must be duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission if it is a corporation or partnership, or with the Department of Trade and Industry if it is a single proprietorship.

4.2       Accreditation under this Order is voluntary.

4.3       The application for accreditation shall be made on an official application form, to be submitted to BPS.

4.4       The applicant shall make available to BPS and authorized assessors, all documents relating to its application for accreditation.

4.5       After assessing that the applicant has complied with the requirements for accreditation, the Director shall approve the application, upon recommendation of a BPS evaluating panel/committee. The BPS shall issue the certificate of accreditation and inform the PCAAC on the approval of the accreditation of the applicant.

4.6       If application is denied for accreditation a request for reconsideration may be filed by the applicant with the PCAAC within fifteen days from receipt of the letter of denial.


5.1       The BPS shall operate a third party mark for use by its accredited bodies or individuals. The marks shall be the property of BPS. The mark is illustrated in Annex 1*.

5.2       The mark may be used by the accredited bodies under the terms and conditions of BPS.


6.1       The Certificate of Accreditation shall take effect from the date of issue for three (3) years, and shall be subject to semestral surveillance audit.

6.2       The accredited body at all times, shall comply to the relevant accreditation criteria and other requirements under this order.

6.3       The accredited body shall allow BPS assessors access to its premises, facilities, records and personnel, as may be necessary, during the conduct of surveillance visits within the working hours.

6.4       The accredited body shall pay all required fees.

6.5       The certificate is non-transferable and is valid only for a specific scope of accreditation. Such scope of accreditation may be expanded by the BPS, upon application by the accredited body and after due assessment by the BPS reveals its conformity to relevant accreditation criteria and other requirements of this Order.

6.6       The accredited body shall inform BPS of relevant internal changes in the following areas that may affect its operations.

6.6.1    Organizational status;

6.6.2    Quality system;

6.6.3    Scope of work;

6.6.4    Audit procedures and, in the case of quality system certification bodies, certification procedures.

7.1       Suspension — The certificate may be suspended by the BPS on the following grounds:

7.1.1        Unjustified refusal of the body to permit BPS assessors access to its premises, facilities, records and personnel, as may be necessary, for the conduct of surveillance visits within working hours.

7.1.2        Use of the Certificate outside of its scope.

7.1.3        Violation of the non-transferability condition of the Certificate.

7.1.4        Failure of the body to observe BPS rules on the use of the accreditation mark.

7.1.5        Failure of the body to pay the required fees.

7.1.6        Violation of trade and industry laws enumerated under Ministry Order 69, Series of 1983, as amended.

7.1.7        The period of suspension shall be from six months to one (1) year depending on the gravity of non-compliance under this Order. However, if the same non-compliance occurs for the third time, the Certificate is canceled.

7.2       Cancellation — The Certificate of Accreditation may be canceled by the BPS on any of the following grounds:

7.2.1        Willful misrepresentation by the body of a material fact in obtaining the Certificate.

7.2.2        Failure of the body to continuously conform to the accreditation criteria and other requirements of this Order.

7.2.3        Violation of Trade and Industry laws enumerated under Ministry Order 69, Series of 1983, as amended.

7.3       Notwithstanding the preceding provisions, PCAAC, through the recommendation of BPS, may direct that the matter of suspension or cancellation shall be adjudicated under E.O. 913 if there is a private complaint instituting the cancellation or suspension of the accreditation.


8.1       The following fees shall be collected from the BPS accredited bodies;

8.1.1 Application form (non-refundable, payable upon issuance)	P500.00
8.1.2 Assessment (initial, surveillance and follow-up visit), including documentation review (payable with the accreditation fee	P500.00/man hour
8.1.3 Accreditation fee (payable upon issuance of Certificate)	P10,000.00/scope of accreditation
8.1.4 Annual dues (payable within 15 days after billing)	P5,000.00

The fees collected above shall be put into the ISO Trust Fund and will be utilized to maintain the BPS Accreditation Scheme.

8.2       Actual transportation expenses and hotel accommodations of accreditation personnel on official business shall be borne by the applicant.


In the event, that any of the provision/s of these rules, is declared invalid, all the provisions not affected shall remain valid and in effect.


The provisions of DAO No. 5 Series of 1994 and all other rules and regulation pertaining to Accreditation Scheme for Conformity Assessment Bodies, which are inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed and modified accordingly.


This Order shall take effect 15 days after publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

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