Draft strategy for quality infra ready next month

MANILA, Philippines - The draft strategy and legislation for the country’s National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) framework aimed at making local products and services competitive, is set to be presented to the public next month, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

According to the DTI, the draft NQI strategy and legislation would be presented to the public and private sector during a consultation meeting on Oct. 28.

The presentation of the draft is intended to help the government establish and strengthen the country’s NQI.

The NQI refers to the interconnected and harmonized strategy on standards, metrology, testing, certification, and accreditation to ensure efficient consumer protection and access to global markets of Philippine industries.

 “We have to enhance the competitiveness of the Philippine industries in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) global value chain,” Virgilio Fulgencio, National Competitiveness Council (NCC) public sector director for operations and DTI - Competitiveness Bureau executive director said.

According to an NQI study in 2011 by the European Union-assisted Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA) Project Phase II and Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt of Germany, the country’s existing components of NQI are inadequate and fragmented.

As such, the country needs policies that would harmonize the incoherent and outdated laws to establish an NQI system to ensure the quality and safety of products, protect consumers and the environment, boost the competitiveness of industries, and allow the country to access international markets.