Strengthening the Compliance of the OIC Member States
to International Standards
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the total number of testing laboratories is likely much higher, perhaps 400-500, with
accreditation ongoing. The process will need to intensify given the importance of standards to
Bangladesh’s export competitiveness. The total number of laboratories is encouraging, but until
they are accredited, they are unlikely to provide a sufficient basis for importers to be confident
in results.
d) Inspection bodies: Both product certification and management systems certification activities
are performed after inspection. Therefore, before issuing certificates, BSTI also acts as the
inspection body. There are also private inspection bodies in the country.
e) Certification bodies: BSTI is the only product certification body in the country. BSTI also issues
management systems certificates. Additionally, twenty private management systems
certification bodies also operate in the country. Having only one product certification body in
the country has the advantage of establishing a well known process and outcome, which is easily
recognizable. However, BSTI’s resources are limited, and it is likely that certification represents
a bottleneck for at least some firms. It will be important to examine potential ways of loosening
this constraint in the future, such as splitting certification activities into different agencies
according to sector or type of certification (safety, quality, etc.).
According to the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Report, the Bangladesh Ministry of Industries is
responsible for leading and facilitating the legal and technical institutional framework for national
standards, quality, and conformity assessment. The main institutions in this regard are the BSTI and the
Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB). BSTI, the national standardization body, formulates national
standards for all products except pharmaceutical products, enforces compliance with standards, and
certifies the quality of products for local consumption, export, or import. The BSTI Council, the highest
decision-making organ of the institution, consists of representatives from different ministries, business
chambers, scientific organizations, and universities.
The BSTI has issued 155 mandatory and 3,528 voluntary product standards as of June 2015. Almost
50% of the 3,683 standards in Bangladesh are identically adopted from international standards such as
ISO and Codex Alimentarius. The sector-wise break-up of these standards is shown in Figure 26.