Cotabato City, BARMM — To improve and strengthen Quality Management System in its laboratory services, the Ministry of Science and Technology – Bangsamoro Standards and Halal Testing Laboratories (MOST-BSHTL) underwent the Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB) Assessment. It was conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry – PAB’s Laboratory Accreditation Division (DTI-PAB-LAD) on January 16-19, 2023, at MOST-BSHTL Building, Bangsamoro Government Center in this city.

MOST Top Management, Finance and Administrative Divisions, and BSHTL personnel were present in the assessment. Four (4) assessors from PAB were present in the evaluation, namely Ms. Florean Cunanan, PAB Team Leader Auditor, Mr. Charles Alviar, PAB Auditor Team Member, Ms. Maria Soledad Distor, Technical Assessor for Chemistry Laboratory, and Mr. Jeremiah Natividad, Technical Assessor for Microbiology Laboratory.

The assessment aims to evaluate the laboratory quality management system. It is to acquire the ISO/IEC 17025:2017, wherein BSHTL must comply with laboratory competence, quality, and reliability of results.

In the opening activity, Bangsamoro Director-General Abdulrakman Asim supported the BSHTL’s endeavor to gain international standards for the quality and reliability of services.

“We are fully supporting the Bangsamoro Standards and Halal Testing Laboratories on its PAB assessment to gain international standards and recognition ensuring that our laboratory services will have quality, assurance, and reliability on its output,” BDG emphasized.

Rugaya Abdullah-Magandia, BSHTL Quality Manager/Laboratory Head, said that to be accredited, they must comply with all the findings of PAB.

“We need to comply with the findings of the Philippine Accreditation Bureau by formulating root cause analyses and corrective actions within the time frame in order to acquire the accreditation.” Rugaya said.

Based on the recently concluded On-site Audit, MOST-BSHTL was recommended for accreditation based on the latest version of PNS ISO/IEC 17025 standards. They must comply with all the findings of PAB to be accredited.

The BSHTL acquiring the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 on establishing and implementing Quality Management System (QMS) in accordance with International Standards would help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), academe, and other customers. It would increase economic development and improve government services.

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