“SLS” Certification Marks Scheme

Sri Lanka standards Institution (SLSI) is the National standards body in Sri Lanka. It was established under the Bureau of Ceylon Standards Act No. 38 of 1964 and later it was repealed and replaced by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution Act No. 6 of 1984. According to this act and the regulations made there under, Sri Lanka Standards Institution is empowered to issue Product Certification Marks to the products, commodities and material manufactured by organizations in compliance with the relevant Sri Lanka Standard and it is also known as “SLS Certification” Marks scheme.

Accordingly, “SLS” Mark has been introduced as the certification mark to symbolize third party guarantee on quality of a product. This scheme enables the SLSI to grant permits to local manufacturers as well as overseas manufacturers producing goods conforming to relevant Sri Lanka Standards and to mark the “SLS” symbol on their products.

The Product Certification Marks Scheme is essentially voluntary in nature. However, SLS Mark has been made compulsory through various directives issued by various regulatory authorities such as Consumer Affairs Authority, Internal Trade Department, import export department, etc. Currently there are 46 commodities identified as such compulsory items.

How to Obtain Product Certification Mark

A manufacturer desirous in obtaining a “SLS” Product certification Mark on a commodity or product, must first ascertain whether the availability of a Sri Lanka Standard Specification for the product/commodity concerned. Applications shall be submitted on the prescribed form and separate applications shall be made for each commodity or product covered by a particular standard.

Assessments before granting of “SLS” Mark

On receipt of an application SLSI will assess the adequacy of manufacturer’s arrangements for quality assurance based on information provided in the application. An audit/s at the factory is/ are arranged to examine and verify the quality of the product or commodity. Specific attention will be paid to verify the arrangements made by the Organization on purchasing, process control at production, suitability of equipment, inspection and testing facilities, accuracy of monitoring and measuring equipment, training, record keeping, provision of necessary resources etc.

The applicant should give every assistance to the project officers / auditors of the Institution to carry out the preliminary inspection and collect first set of samples and also to do the subsequent inspection and collect the second set of samples from the production process. The cost of audits, cost of samples and testing fees shall be borne by the applicant.

Validity of Permit

Validity of a Permit is three years which can be renewed thereafter subject to conformity of the samples to the relevant

Sri Lanka Standard Specifications and satisfactory operation of the quality system. A Permit can be cancelled at any time if the commodity or product is found to be sub-standard or if the Permit Holder fails to comply with and conditions under which a Permit is issued.

Contact details

Director (Product Certification Division) Tel./Fax: 011-5626204.

Email: dpc@slsi.lk