The Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB) is the national accreditation body of the Philippines. Formerly known as the Philippine Accreditation Office, PAB is mandated to accredit inspection, testing, calibration, and certification bodies, as well as other bodies offering conformity assessment services needed by the country. Its role as the national accreditation body is formally recognized under Executive Order No. 802, which designates PAB as the central authority for accreditation in the Philippines. PAB operates within the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and delivers its accreditation services in accordance with PNS ISO/IEC 17011, which specifies the general requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies.

PAB’s mandate is to strengthen the national technical infrastructure in support of consumer protection and to enhance the competitiveness of Philippine products in domestic and international markets. In carrying out this mandate, PAB assesses and accredits conformity assessment bodies to ensure the competence, reliability, and integrity of test results, calibration certificates, inspection reports, and certifications. It also supports industries, regulators, and consumers by enabling confidence in conformity assessment outcomes and by entering into mutual and multilateral recognition arrangements that allow accredited results to be accepted across borders.

PAB delivers accreditation across the country through defined accreditation domains covering testing and calibration laboratories, medical testing laboratories, inspection bodies, proficiency testing providers, and certification bodies for management systems, products, persons, and validation and verification activities. These accreditation programs are implemented in accordance with the relevant international standards for conformity assessment and certification, ensuring technical competence, impartiality, and international acceptability of accredited results.

International recognition is a core element of PAB’s function. PAB is a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC), the ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality (ACCSQ) Working Group on Accreditation and Conformity Assessment, and the International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF). It is a signatory to multilateral and mutual recognition arrangements covering a range of accreditation scopes, including management system certification, product certification, testing, calibration, medical testing, and inspection. These recognitions are achieved through peer evaluation and demonstrate that PAB’s accreditation programs meet internationally accepted requirements.

PAB’s development reflects the consolidation of accreditation functions in the Philippines. Accreditation activities were initially handled within the Bureau of Philippine Standards before Executive Order No. 802 formally recognized the Philippine Accreditation Office as the national accreditation body under the Department of Trade and Industry in 2009. Subsequent institutional reforms led to the establishment of the Philippine Accreditation Bureau as a full bureau in 2015 and the expansion of its accreditation programs and international signatory scopes.

PAB operates under a quality and impartiality framework aligned with international accreditation requirements and is financed through the national government budget as part of the Department of Trade and Industry’s annual appropriations. For more information, please visit the official website of the Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB).