As a product certification organization, IAPMO R&T is always seeking opportunities to offer new services and programs that will be beneficial to our clients. One way in which we accomplish this is by expanding our readiness to offer certification services in new markets, such as certification to Canadian requirements, or through offering certifications for new products and programs, such as the U.S. EPA’s WaterSense® and ENERGY STAR® programs. Now we are happy to deliver another new service — certification for the Mexican market. We see this as a milestone that will have significant impact on our industry.
Earlier this year, we received accreditation from entidad mexicana de acreditación, a.c. (ema), the accreditation body in Mexico. Shortly after our accreditation with ema, we gained recognition from Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA), which is Mexico’s National Water Commission, a decentralized agency of the Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). Through the ema accreditation and CONAGUA recognition, IAPMO R&T is now well positioned to offer certifications on plumbing products in Mexico with the capability to grant manufacturers the use of the official CONAGUA “NOM” emblem on plumbing products. Our certification covers the NOM requirements for water closets (NOM-009-CNA-2001), flushometer valves (NOM-005-CAN-1996), fill and flush valves (NOM-010-CAN-2010) and showerheads (NOM-008-CAN-1998) intended for the Mexican market.
Together with the cUPC certification, which is for plumbing products in the Canadian market, this additional accreditation from ema makes IAPMO R&T the first and only certification agency that can offer plumbing product certification services for the entire North American market — the United States, Canada and now Mexico.
For those of you marketing your plumbing products in Mexico, you must have been familiar with the Mexico regulation requirements. When a product is subject to NOM requirements, such as plumbing products, it cannot be imported into Mexico unless it has been certified as being in compliance with the NOM (official Mexican standard) requirements. It is important to note that many water related products (i.e. plumbing products) are monitored by CONAGUA to require a NOM-complied certification issued by an ema-accredited and CONAGUA-recognized certification agency to be accepted in Mexico.
I cannot emphasize enough how significant this new service from IAPMO R&T will be to those who are selling or will sell plumbing products in Mexico. First, manufacturers are now presented with a choice of certification services from a U.S.-based certifier for the Mexico market. In addition, the manufacturers who have been using IAPMO R&T for the cUPC certifications will be able to benefit from the true one-stop certification service, which will satisfy their certification needs for the entire North America market by dealing with only one certification agency. This complete service offering will make the certification process simpler and easier than before.
Manufacturers who have worked with IAPMO R&T in the past know that we take customer service very seriously and that we truly understand the importance of “speed to market.” Our attentive and quickly delivered services are known industry wide. Now this new service will enable us to help manufacturers to introduce their products faster in the Mexican market, as well. Furthermore, our service for Mexican certification includes an automatic notification to CONAGUA and Mexico customs when a new product receives our certification. This provides the added assurance that when a product enters Mexico, it will not be held by Mexican customs as long as it has been certified by IAPMO R&T. This is just another small detail that we added into the program to ensure that manufacturers will gain maximum benefit from their IAPMO R&T certification.
Our accreditation by ema and recognition by CONAGUA also allow us to offer three different types of certifications. Depending on the type of quality management system that you have developed in your operation, your certificate will be issued as one of the following:
a.) Type 1 Certification (renewal every two years): to be eligible for this program, the manufacturer must have a quality system that conforms to ISO 9001:2008.
b.) Type 2 Certification (renewal every three years): to be eligible for this program, the manufacturer must have a valid certification to ISO 9001:2008.
c.) Type 3 Certification (renewal every year): no prerequisite requirement.
Response to this new service has been overwhelmingly positive among manufacturers, especially those who have used our services for other certifications. We at IAPMO R&T are gratified to help our clients with this new Mexican certification service for their products to enter the market faster, more simply, and easier. Our team will continue to identify new opportunities for new services in order to add value in serving our clients.
For additional details of each of these types of certification, please contact our knowledgeable staff toll-free at 1-877-UPC-MARK.
Jin Luo
Last modified: December 29, 2022