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Bangladesh Accreditation Board

autonomous · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
Md. Anwarul Alam
Role
Director General
Annual budget
—
Staff
—
Established
2006
Legal basis
Bangladesh Accreditation Act, 2006; Board constituted on 6 September 2006 by gazette notification; formally operational with permanent staff from 2010

BAB has accredited 144 conformity assessment bodies (CABs) as of October 2024 across testing, calibration, medical laboratory, inspection, and certification schemes. It is a Full Member of ILAC and a signatory to the ILAC/APAC MRA for testing (ISO/IEC 17025, since 2015), medical testing (ISO 15189, extended January 2020), and inspection (ISO/IEC 17020, extended January 2020). BAB is pursuing three MoUs with regional and international partners by FY 2025-26 to expand accreditation capacity and support cross-border agricultural and food trade. World Accreditation Day 2026 preparations are underway.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

BAB was constituted on 6 September 2006 by gazette notification under the Bangladesh Accreditation Act, 2006, and became operational with permanent staff from 2010. It is an autonomous statutory body under the Ministry of Industries; the Ministry Secretary serves as an ex-officio Board member. The Board's composition under the Act includes secretaries from six ministries, two nominated experts, the FBCCI president, a BUET professor, and heads of key CABs, with a government-appointed Chairman (3-year term) and the Director General as Member-Secretary. BAB became an ILAC Affiliate Member in 2010, a Full Member and ILAC/APAC MRA signatory for testing (ISO/IEC 17025) on 12 March 2015, and extended its MRA scope to medical testing (ISO 15189) and inspection (ISO/IEC 17020) on 15 January 2020. As of October 2024, BAB has accredited 144 CABs across all schemes. Current Director General is Md. Anwarul Alam, confirmed by name in the 26 February 2025 SARSO meeting reported by ILAC (May 2025 news item); predecessor Md. Monwarul Islam was DG as of September 2021 (Financial Express). Appointment date for Anwarul Alam could not be confirmed from available primary sources; head_since left null. Staff count and annual budget could not be verified from available primary sources. ILAC and IAF formally merged into the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated on 1 January 2026; BAB's MRA arrangements continue under the unified framework. Wikipedia notes a recognition concern raised by Western Marine Shipyard's chairman that BAB certificates are 'sometimes not accepted in other countries'; the ILAC MRA is designed to address this but scope limitations may persist for non-MRA-covered schemes.

Sources