Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) is a statutory body established by “The Bangladesh Accreditation Act, 2006” under the Ministry of Industries, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The board is mandated by the act to make provisions for the issuance of accreditation certificates to different laboratories, certification bodies, inspection bodies, training institutions, or persons, in line with the relevant International and national standards and guidelines.

BAB started testing the laboratory accreditation scheme in 2011 and issued its first-ever accreditation certificate in 2012. Since this time, activities of BAB have been expanded in response to valued stakeholders, at home and abroad. BAB is currently operating 4 accreditation schemes for testing, calibration, and medical laboratories, inspection bodies, and certification bodies. As of October 2024, BAB has accredited 144 Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) operating in both private and public domains.

In 2015 BAB signed a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (now APAC) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). Membership for Halal Accreditation with other similar international and regional organizations including the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC) is in process.

The government of Bangladesh declared “The World Accreditation Day” 9 June as a National Day (Category C) in 2013. Every year this day is celebrated nationwide with great enthusiasm, to promote mass awareness about accreditation and dissemination of accreditation information. On the eve of the World Accreditation Day 2024, BAB published souvenirs highlighting the theme of the day and the importance of accreditation, and organized different seminars, symposium stakeholder meetings, and so on. A special supplement was published in the widely circulated daily newspapers and a television talk show was also aired on this occasion.

Zakia Sultana, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Industries and Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB is seen in the World Accreditation Day 2024 rally

Like previous years, a colorful rally led by Zakia Sultana, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Industries and Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB was held on the occasion of ‘World Accreditation Day 2024’. The experts, regulators, well-wishers, and beneficiaries from different stakeholders including senior officials of the Ministry of Industry, representatives of different accredited CABs, the business community, academia, quality and accreditation persons, and journalists from electronic and print media participated in the rally. Different electronic media aired and print media published the news with great emphasis.

To improve national accreditation infrastructure in the country BAB organizes need-based training on different international standards and technical topics. This also helps in the facilitation of accreditation activities and making a competent assessor/expert pool.

Mr. Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB and Mr Hohammad Shhohaieb, Initiative Director, UK Bangladesh Standards partnership initiative, BSI along with the participants.

As part of the ministry-led innovation program for service simplification, BAB has a program to provide accreditation services appropriately by establishing a modern technology-based, efficient, accountable, corruption-free administrative and accreditation system. In this regard, BAB showcased “Pre-qualification Self-Assessment of Testing and Calibration Service Providers Interested in Accreditation through Online” on its website for feasibility and client’s opinion.

Mr. Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB describing the service simplification of BAB to Zakia Sultana, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Industries.

BAB is committed to maintaining APAC/ILAC MRA status in compliance with international norms, and assists in the overall development of Bangladesh by trade facilitation; delivering confidence and protection of public interest through quality accreditation services without discrimination, and ensuring maintaining independence, impartiality, transparency and objectivity in the decision-making process. To this end, BAB regularly organizes meetings with significant stakeholders for feedback, opinions, and suggestions.

Mr. Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB and senior BAB officials along with the participants of the stakeholder workshop.

BAB always strives to establish itself as a reliable accreditation organization in regional and the international arena. Over time, the spectrum of BAB activities has been expanding. The Bangladesh government has taken different initiatives and approved new projects in the annual development program for modernization of accreditation infrastructure and capacity building. In the future, through increasing the work portfolios and activities, BAB will continue its significant role in the socio-economic development of the country.