National Quality Infrastructure
TRTA3 Approach
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
Philippines Development Plan
b. The government shall set up a National
Quality Infrastructure to integrate and
coordinate series of activities involving
metrology, standardization, testing, and
accreditation and certification.
Chapter 3. page 96
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
TRTA 3 Financing Agreement:
Strengthened capacity to develop
and implement National Quality
Infrastructure
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
What is NQI good for?
• Helps spread best practices and therefore,
boost PH industry competitiveness
• Ensures compliance of PH products with legal
safety and consumer protection requirements
• Provides means of compliance to secure
market access
• Optimize the resources of the public sector by
generating growth and business opportunities
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
What is NQI good for?
• SMEs cannot sustain the quality of their product and
therefore they cannot be reliable suppliers – lack
application of standardization and conformity assessment
practices
• There are sub-standards products on the market – lack of
voluntary standardization and market surveillance
• Customs rejection of PH products remains high in key
markets, e.g. US – lack of standardization, conformity
assessment and accreditation
• Government in-house capacity cannot test all the products
both for pre and post market control – lack of private
accredited and trusted conformity assessment bodies
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
What is NQI?
What is NQI?
What is Quality about?
QUALITY
Regulators
(BPS, BPI,
FDA etc )
From Dr Sanetra
Private Sector
Technical
Regulations
Voluntary
Standardization
Mandatory
minimum
requirements
Technically
beyond minimum
requirements
Consumer
Protection
Best product
possible
COMPETITIVENESS
SAFETY
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
Safety
Mandatory
Quality
Voluntary
The lack of NQI means…
UNIDO, 2010. Meeting Standards, Winning
Markets
There is widespread evidence that trade
standards related infrastructural capacity and
services are weak in many developing countries
and that such weaknesses strongly impede
efforts to establish and/or expand agri-food
exports, and at the same time endanger effective
local consumer protection.
Is there a NQI in the PH?
• Fragmentation of the existing NQI practices and
their mandates
• NQI existing practices respond mostly to
consumer protection, not to developing national
industries
• The Private Sector does not yet have the
ownership, responsibility and recognition in
support of the NQI
• The overall knowledge of the benefits of NQI is
very limited both in the Public and Private sector
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
What we need to do next?
Government Regulatory Practices
• Learn the distinction between Technical
Regulations and Standards
• Regulate only on safety, health, and
environment protection
• Delegate conformity assessment and
voluntary standardization to independent and
recognized organizations
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
What we need to do next?
NQI Institutions
• Develop voluntary standardization as an
industry driven activity
• Reinforce and secure an independent
accreditation body
• Reinforce financially and institutionally the
national metrology laboratory
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
What we need to do next?
NQI Legislation/Policy
• Formalize a key stakeholders WG to discuss
and agree on what the PH NQI should look like
• Executive Order on National Quality Policy,
which should refer to a NQI Strategy and Road
Map
• Establishment of a National Quality Council
• Drafting of a National Quality Law
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
The TRTA3 approach
• Create a ‘temporary’ body to bring together
the key stakeholders
• Ensure the training, facilitation and ‘challenge’
to the key stakeholders via participation of
external experts
• Share international best practices
• Strive for developing the framework of a
formal NQI legislation and permanent NQI
Body
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
NQI Stakeholders Meeting(s)
NQI Stakeholders meeting
Main Deliveries: Recommendations on
NQI Policy, PH NQI Strategy, Road Map
and draft NQI Law (including NQI
Council)
Composition: 14 participants (7
Regulators and 7 Industry + Consumers
+ Civil Society)
Timeframe: 2013 to end 2016
Frequency: once every quarter
Technical Assistance: Training, resource
person and support in drafting the
Strategy & Road Map
EU-Philippines
Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3
NQI Key Questions
• How can we ensure the independence of standardization
and accreditation? How are they going to be funded?
• Which organization will be in charge of Voluntary
Standardization?
• How are we going to organize accreditation to ensure
efficiency and international recognition?
• How much will the public sector delegate to the private
sector?
• How can we make those NQI institutions self-sustainable?
Through competition, through national recognition,
through services, through all of them…?
• How will we promote a culture of quality?