Where we work · Honduras
ISO and GRC certification consulting in Honduras
Achieve ISO and GRC certification in Honduras with Sterling: 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries, 20+ years.
- 20 standards, one team
- Accredited certification route
- New York office team
- Effivity and Academy included
Sectors that ask for certification in Honduras
- Coffee, banana and other agri-food exporters
- Export manufacturers and maquila operators under free-zone and temporary-import regimes
- Contact centres, BPO and business-service providers working for overseas clients
- Food and beverage processors, packers and distributors
- Pharmaceutical, medical-device and health-product makers and distributors
- Banks, insurers, pension and securities firms and the firms that serve them
Clients include
ISO and GRC certification in Honduras at a glance
Honduran buyers rarely ask for ISO certificates because a statute says so; they ask because export customers, banks and public tenders do. The Agencia de Regulación Sanitaria (ARSA) authorises and controls food, beverage, medical-device and pharmaceutical establishments and products, while SENASA protects plant and animal health and food safety for agri-food trade. Employers answer to the Secretaría de Trabajo y Seguridad Social under the Código del Trabajo, banks and insurers to the Comisión Nacional de Bancos y Seguros, and power generators to the Comisión Reguladora de Energía Eléctrica. The Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico runs the free-zone, temporary-import and call-centre regimes that shelter export manufacturers and business-service firms, and ONCAE registers State suppliers. The Organismo Hondureño de Acreditación, inside the national quality system, accredits laboratories and inspection bodies. Management system certificates come from accredited certification bodies, never from Sterling. Sterling supports organisations in Honduras from its New York office, on site where the work needs it and remotely otherwise, drawing on 20+ years and 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries, with Effivity and Sterling Academy included.
ISO and GRC standards Sterling delivers in Honduras
Each card opens Sterling's guide to the standard: what it requires, how certification or compliance works and what sets the time and cost.
Quality & operational excellence
Information security, cyber & cloud
Privacy & data protection
AI governance & digital trust
Environment, energy & climate
Health & safety
Governance, risk & resilience
Financial services, payments & AML
Food safety & agriculture
Healthcare, medical devices & life sciences
Laboratories, inspection & accreditation
Automotive, aerospace, rail & defence
Construction, energy, oil & gas
Regulators and laws that drive certification in Honduras (12)
| Law or regulator | What it asks for | Standards it cites |
|---|---|---|
| Constitución de la República, article 76 — honour, personal and family privacy and one's own image The article names no authority; it states a guarantee. | Article 76 guarantees the right to honour, to personal and family privacy and to one's own image. It names no ISO standard and creates no certificate. Confirm with counsel how the guarantee applies to your own processing. | |
| Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública (Decreto Legislativo No. 170-2006) and its Reglamento (Acuerdo No. IAIP-0001-2008) — personal data held by obliged institutions Instituto de Acceso a la Información Pública (IAIP), which article 8 of the law describes as a decentralised body responsible for promoting access to public information and for regulating and supervising the procedures of the obliged institutions on protecting, classifying and keeping it. | The law defines confidential personal data (ethnic origin, physical, moral or emotional traits, private address and telephone, political affiliation, beliefs, health, family assets and similar), recognises the habeas data guarantee and says personal data are always protected. Article 39 makes the habeas data articles effective once the matching constitutional reform is ratified. The Reglamento obliges the obliged institutions to adopt measures that keep personal data secure and prevent their alteration, loss, transmission and unauthorised access, and says people or companies that build personal databases through their work may not use them without the prior consent of the person concerned. It names no ISO standard. Confirm with counsel which provisions reach your organisation. | |
| Agencia de Regulación Sanitaria (ARSA) Food, beverages, medical devices, pharmaceutical products and related establishments | ARSA states that its purpose is to protect the health of the population by enforcing the applicable legal and technical rules for the authorisation, control and surveillance of establishments and products of health interest, on a risk basis. Its procedures are organised by food and beverages, medical devices, pharmaceutical products, clinical trials and lodging and recreation centres, and it has service offices in several cities and at border crossings and ports. | |
| Servicio Nacional de Sanidad e Inocuidad Agroalimentaria (SENASA) Plant and animal health, agri-food safety and agricultural exports | SENASA's own history says the Ley Fitosanitaria (Decreto 157-94) created it as a directorate of the agriculture secretariat and that Decreto PCM-038-2016 re-created it as a decentralised body of that secretariat, with a mandate to protect people, animals and plants and the safety of their products and by-products against harmful pests and diseases. Its site carries directorates for animal health, plant health and food safety, import and export procedures and phytosanitary trapping protocols for named markets. | |
| Secretaría de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, through the Dirección General de Inspección del Trabajo Occupational safety and health (all employers) | Código del Trabajo (Decreto 189-59): every employer must supply and maintain premises and equipment that guarantee workers' safety and health (article 391), employers with ten or more permanent workers must draw up a special hygiene and safety regulation and submit it to the Inspección General del Trabajo for review and approval (article 397), workplaces with ten or more workers must set up safety committees with equal employer and worker representation (article 412), and the labour secretariat oversees compliance (article 400). The inspection directorate describes itself as responsible for compliance with labour legislation. | |
| The environment secretariat named in the Ley General del Ambiente Industry and any project or activity likely to pollute or degrade the environment | Ley General del Ambiente (Decreto 104-93), article 5: projects, industrial installations and other public or private activities likely to pollute or degrade the environment, natural resources or cultural heritage must be preceded by an environmental impact assessment, and the protection measures that result bind all parties during execution and over the life of the works. The same article tasks the environment secretariat with creating the national environmental impact assessment system. | |
| Comisión Nacional de Bancos y Seguros (CNBS) Banks, insurers, pension funds, securities and other supervised financial institutions | CNBS describes itself as a decentralised body of the Presidency with functional and budgetary independence that supervises financial, insurance, pension and securities activities and checks that supervised institutions have systems to prevent money laundering. Its objectives include supervised institutions managing all their risks on sound practices. Its published description names no ISO standard. | |
| Comisión Reguladora de Energía Eléctrica (CREE) Electricity generators, transmitters, distributors and qualified consumers | CREE says the Ley General de la Industria Eléctrica and its reforms make it the regulator of the national electricity market, with two functions: defining the regulatory framework and supervising companies and users. It may require information, carry out inspections, impose sanctions and enrol operators in the Public Register of Electricity Sector Companies. Its services include authorisation and registration of qualified consumers. | |
| Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico (SDE) — Dirección General de Sectores Productivos Export manufacturers, free-zone and temporary-import users, call centres and banana growers | SDE says this directorate handles the Régimen de Importación Temporal, the industrial processing zones for export and related export-promotion regimes, the Ley de Representantes, Distribuidores y Agentes, the banana production incentive policy and the free-zone (ZOLI) operator and user procedures, and its list of laws includes the law that promotes call centres and business-service outsourcing. The regimes give customs and tax treatment; the pages name no ISO standard. | |
| Sistema Nacional de la Calidad (SNC), within the Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico Standardisation, accreditation and metrology (all sectors) | The Ley del Sistema Nacional de la Calidad (Decreto Legislativo 29-2011) sits behind three bodies, the Organismo Hondureño de Normalización (OHN), the Centro Hondureño de Metrología (CEHM) and the Organismo Hondureño de Acreditación (OHA). SDE says OHN develops national technical standards of voluntary use and adopts ISO and IEC standards, and CEHM keeps the national measurement standards and calibrates instruments. OHN is named here only as a standards body. | |
| Tribunal Superior de Cuentas (TSC) Public funds, probity and integrity of public bodies | TSC says its constitutional function is the after-the-fact audit of funds, goods and resources run by State powers, decentralised bodies, state banks, municipalities and any public or private body that receives or manages public resources, and that it also sets up a transparency system for public servants. Its audit types include information technology and environmental audits. It names no ISO standard. | |
| Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE) Coffee growers and exporters | IHCAFE describes its purpose as promoting the socio-economic profitability of Honduran coffee growers by developing the competitiveness of the coffee agro-industrial chain sustainably, and its site presents Honduran coffee regions, commercialisation and national production statistics. It states no certificate requirement. |
Accreditation and recognition
- Organismo Hondureño de Acreditación (OHA): National accreditation body — created under the Ley del Sistema Nacional de la Calidad (Decreto No. 29-2011 of 8 July 2011, published in La Gaceta) and attached to the Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico; OHA's site says it directs accreditation of conformity assessment in the voluntary field and works to ISO/IEC 17011:2017.
Look for a certification body whose accreditation scope covers your standard and sector, from a national accreditation body recognised under the international arrangements of Global ACI (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated, formerly the IAF MLA). Sterling does not certify.
Tenders and procurement
- Registro de Proveedores y Contratistas del Estado and the HonduCompras system (Oficina Normativa de Contratación y Adquisiciones del Estado (ONCAE)): ONCAE, created by Decreto Legislativo No. 74-2001, keeps the register of State suppliers and contractors, issues rules and model tender documents and runs HonduCompras, the information system through which procurement under the Ley de Contratación del Estado is published. Its supplier requirements include notarised forms, identity and tax documents, a tax-compliance certificate and a sworn declaration that the supplier is not caught by the prohibitions in articles 15 and 16 of that law. The pages describe registration, not ISO certificates; each tender sets its own technical conditions.
Economic zones
- Free-zone regime (Zonas Libres, ZOLI) — operators and user companies: export manufacturing, services and trade linked to export
- Temporary-import regime (RIT) and industrial processing zones for export: export manufacturing, maquila
- Call-centre and business-service outsourcing promotion law: contact centres, business-process outsourcing, business services
Sterling in Honduras
Sterling delivers in Honduras from its New York office: one team from scoping to certificate, with Effivity ISO & GRC software and Sterling Academy access included. Sterling does not certify; certification decisions stay with independent bodies.
Questions Honduras clients ask
Which body accredits laboratories in Honduras?
The Organismo Hondureño de Acreditación (OHA), the national accreditation body inside the Sistema Nacional de la Calidad. Its site lists testing and calibration, clinical laboratory and inspection accreditation. Global ACI shows OHA as a Full Member and Global ACI MRA signatory, with dated entries of 17 August 2026 for ISO/IEC 17011 and for testing under ISO/IEC 17025. Ask any body for its accreditation scope.
Do ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certificates in Honduras carry OHA accreditation?
Usually not. OHA's list of current accreditation services does not include management system certification, and Global ACI shows no dated management systems entry for it. Certificates for these standards therefore tend to carry accreditation from another economy within the international arrangements. Read the scope on the accreditation certificate and ask your customer or bank whether it accepts that body.
Are certification audits in Honduras conducted in English?
Often at contact centres, export plants and foreign-owned suppliers, although statutes, regulator procedures and public tenders are in Spanish. Settle the audit language, any interpreter and the language of controlled records at application, and mention early if floor interviews will be in Spanish. The certification body decides how it staffs the audit team.
Which agency controls food, medicines and medical devices in Honduras?
The Agencia de Regulación Sanitaria (ARSA). It describes its job as authorising, controlling and monitoring establishments and products of health interest on a risk basis, with procedures grouped under food and beverages, medical devices, pharmaceutical products and clinical trials. SENASA covers plant and animal health and agri-food safety. Ask each agency which procedure applies to your product.
What does the Honduran labour code require on workplace safety?
Employers must supply premises and equipment that safeguard workers' safety and health. Those with ten or more permanent workers must prepare a special hygiene and safety regulation and submit it to the labour inspectorate for approval, and workplaces with ten or more workers must form safety committees with equal employer and worker seats. Check current regulations with the labour secretariat.
How does a company supply goods or services to Honduran public bodies?
It registers with ONCAE, the procurement rule-making office, which keeps the supplier register and runs HonduCompras, where procurement under the Ley de Contratación del Estado is published. Registration involves notarised forms, tax documents and a sworn declaration on legal prohibitions. ONCAE's pages describe registration, not ISO certificates, so read each tender's own conditions before bidding.
Start with a free discovery call
A Sterling consultant goes through your entities, your regulators and your target date with you. No proposal until the scope is agreed.
Sources
- Constitución de la República, article 76 — honour, personal and family privacy and one's own image — tsc.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública (Decreto Legislativo No. 170-2006) and its Reglamento (Acuerdo No. IAIP-0001-2008) — personal data held by obliged institutions — tsc.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- ARSA states that its purpose is to protect the health of the population by enforcing the applicable legal and technical rules for the authorisation, control and surveillance of establishments and products of health interest, on a risk basis. Its procedures are organised by food and beverages, medical devices, pharmaceutical products, clinical trials and lodging and recreation centres, and it has service offices in several cities and at border crossings and ports. — arsa.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- SENASA's own history says the Ley Fitosanitaria (Decreto 157-94) created it as a directorate of the agriculture secretariat and that Decreto PCM-038-2016 re-created it as a decentralised body of that secretariat, with a mandate to protect people, animals and plants and the safety of their products and by-products against harmful pests and diseases. Its site carries directorates for animal health, plant health and food safety, import and export procedures and phytosanitary trapping protocols for named markets. — senasa.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- Código del Trabajo (Decreto 189-59): every employer must supply and maintain premises and equipment that guarantee workers' safety and health (article 391), employers with ten or more permanent workers must draw up a special hygiene and safety regulation and submit it to the Inspección General del Trabajo for review and approval (article 397), workplaces with ten or more workers must set up safety committees with equal employer and worker representation (article 412), and the labour secretariat oversees compliance (article 400). The inspection directorate describes itself as responsible for compliance with labour legislation. — tsc.gob.hn; trabajo.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- Ley General del Ambiente (Decreto 104-93), article 5: projects, industrial installations and other public or private activities likely to pollute or degrade the environment, natural resources or cultural heritage must be preceded by an environmental impact assessment, and the protection measures that result bind all parties during execution and over the life of the works. The same article tasks the environment secretariat with creating the national environmental impact assessment system. — tsc.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- CNBS describes itself as a decentralised body of the Presidency with functional and budgetary independence that supervises financial, insurance, pension and securities activities and checks that supervised institutions have systems to prevent money laundering. Its objectives include supervised institutions managing all their risks on sound practices. Its published description names no ISO standard. — cnbs.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- CREE says the Ley General de la Industria Eléctrica and its reforms make it the regulator of the national electricity market, with two functions: defining the regulatory framework and supervising companies and users. It may require information, carry out inspections, impose sanctions and enrol operators in the Public Register of Electricity Sector Companies. Its services include authorisation and registration of qualified consumers. — cree.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- SDE says this directorate handles the Régimen de Importación Temporal, the industrial processing zones for export and related export-promotion regimes, the Ley de Representantes, Distribuidores y Agentes, the banana production incentive policy and the free-zone (ZOLI) operator and user procedures, and its list of laws includes the law that promotes call centres and business-service outsourcing. The regimes give customs and tax treatment; the pages name no ISO standard. — sde.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- The Ley del Sistema Nacional de la Calidad (Decreto Legislativo 29-2011) sits behind three bodies, the Organismo Hondureño de Normalización (OHN), the Centro Hondureño de Metrología (CEHM) and the Organismo Hondureño de Acreditación (OHA). SDE says OHN develops national technical standards of voluntary use and adopts ISO and IEC standards, and CEHM keeps the national measurement standards and calibrates instruments. OHN is named here only as a standards body. — sde.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- TSC says its constitutional function is the after-the-fact audit of funds, goods and resources run by State powers, decentralised bodies, state banks, municipalities and any public or private body that receives or manages public resources, and that it also sets up a transparency system for public servants. Its audit types include information technology and environmental audits. It names no ISO standard. — tsc.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- IHCAFE describes its purpose as promoting the socio-economic profitability of Honduran coffee growers by developing the competitiveness of the coffee agro-industrial chain sustainably, and its site presents Honduran coffee regions, commercialisation and national production statistics. It states no certificate requirement. — ihcafe.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- Organismo Hondureño de Acreditación (OHA) — sde.gob.hn; global-aci.org (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- Registro de Proveedores y Contratistas del Estado and the HonduCompras system — oncae.gob.hn (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
- Free-zone regime (Zonas Libres, ZOLI) — operators and user companies — sde.gob.hn
- Temporary-import regime (RIT) and industrial processing zones for export — sde.gob.hn
- Call-centre and business-service outsourcing promotion law — sde.gob.hn
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