ISO 17025 accreditation in the Philippines: PAB, international recognition and local practice

Why Philippine laboratories pursue ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation

The request rarely starts with the laboratory. A food or agricultural exporter finds that an importer wants certificates of analysis from an accredited laboratory, not just any laboratory. An electronics or semiconductor plant in an economic zone is told by its foreign parent that the in-house calibration room must meet the group's accreditation policy. A commercial calibration provider in Clark or Laguna loses a tender because a competitor's certificates carry an accreditation mark and its own do not.

There is a local market too: manufacturers and contractors want calibration certificates their own ISO 9001 auditors will accept without follow-up questions.

We have not found a single Philippine law that requires every testing or calibration laboratory to hold ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. Where a programme does require it, read the requirement in that programme's own text. For the standard itself, the requirements guide sets out what the assessors will look for.

PAB and the Philippine accreditation route

PAB accredits laboratories as well as certification bodies. On its laboratory side, DTI announced in November 2019 that PAB had added medical testing to ISO 15189 and inspection to ISO/IEC 17020 to its ILAC MRA signatory status, which it has held for testing and calibration since 2005. A medical laboratory therefore follows ISO 15189, not ISO/IEC 17025, even though both go through PAB.

The route follows the usual accreditation-body pattern: application, document review, an on-site assessment in which a lead assessor and technical assessors witness your tests or calibrations, closure of findings, and a decision by the body. PAB sets its own application forms, fees, assessment arrangements and deadlines for corrective action. Get them from PAB before you fix your plan. Our step-by-step guide to the accreditation process explains each stage.

Recognition abroad is the question export customers ask first. On 1 January 2026, ILAC and IAF were brought together in Global ACI, whose arrangement replaced the ILAC MRA. PAB's own pages still refer to its ILAC MRA standing. When we checked the Global ACI list of recognised bodies in September 2026, PAB did not appear on it. Confirm PAB's current recognition for testing and calibration on both sites before you promise a foreign buyer that your results will be accepted.

Local practice that changes a laboratory project

Economic-zone plants and group policies

Laboratories inside export plants often inherit a foreign parent's quality manual, equipment policy and approved suppliers. Accreditation is granted to your laboratory, at your address, for your methods, so the parent's documents have to be adopted locally and tied to your own records. Decide early whether the laboratory will use PAB or an accreditation body that the parent group already works with.

More than one site

Many Philippine laboratories run a main laboratory in Metro Manila with field teams or smaller sites in the provinces. Only the sites and activities on the schedule are accredited, and the assessors will want to see the work where it is actually done. Plan the scope site by site and add others later by extension. The scope of accreditation guide shows how a schedule is built.

Traceability and proficiency testing

Calibration certificates for your reference standards, and the proficiency testing schemes you join, often come from providers outside the country. Before you depend on any provider, check that the body accepts its accreditation and its schemes, and allow for shipping times and PT rounds that follow the provider's calendar, not yours.

Local items to check, and where

How Sterling works in the Philippines

Sterling runs Philippine laboratory engagements from its Manila office. Our consultants work in the laboratory with your quality and technical managers. Local services and contacts are on Sterling in the Philippines. Behind the team are 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries since 2003. Sterling does not accredit: the accreditation body assesses your laboratory and makes the decision, and we prepare you for that assessment.

ISO/IEC 17025 in the Philippines: questions laboratories ask