EBM is the only Company in the industry to have achieved recognized international certifications including ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, ISO 22000:2005, ISO 27001:2005 and Halaal Certification.
Details of the certifications, and recognition given below:
ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
ISO is a global network that identifies what International Standards are required by business, government and society, develops them in partnership with the sectors that will put them to use, adopts them by transparent procedures based on national input and delivers them to be implemented worldwide. ISO – a non governmental organization – is a federation of the national standards bodies of 157 countries, one per country, from all regions of the world including developed, developing and transitional economies with a central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. PSQCA (Pakistan Standard of Quality Control Authority) represents Pakistan as the national standard body.
ISO 9001:2008
ISO 9001:2008 is a Quality Management System that focuses on controlling and monitoring quality factors. This international standard promotes the adoption of a process approach when developing, implementing and improving the effectiveness of a quality management system, to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer requirements..
The ISO 9000 is primarily concerned with "quality management". This means what the organization does to fulfill:
- The customer's quality requirements, and
- applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to
- enhance customer satisfaction, and
- achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives
ISO 9001 applies to all types of organizations. It doesn’t matter what size they are or what they do. It can help both product and service oriented organization achieve standards of quality that are recognized & respected throughout the world.
(EBM initially acquired ISO 9001:2000 in 1999 and converted to ISO 9001:2008 in 2009 through URS).
ISO 14001:2004
The ISO 14001 is primarily concerned with "environmental management". This means what the organization does to:
- Minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities, and
- To achieve continual improvement of its environmental performance.
The ISO 14000 environmental management standards exist to help organizations minimize how their operations negatively affect the environment. The major objective of the ISO 14000 series of norms is "to promote more effective and efficient environmental management in organizations and to provide useful and usable tools - ones that are cost effective, system-based, and flexible and reflect the best organizations and the best organizational practices available for gathering, interpreting and communicating environmentally relevant information
(EBM acquired this certification in 2005 through URS).
ISO 22000:2005
The ISO 22000 international standard specifies the requirements for a food safety management system that involves the following elements.
- interactive communication
- system management
- prerequisite programs
- HACCP principles
ISO 22000 can be applied independently of other management system standards or integrated with existing management system requirements.
ISO 22000 integrates the principles of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system and application steps developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. By means of auditable requirements, it combines the HACCP plan with prerequisite programmes. ISO 22000 requires that all hazards that may be reasonably expected to occur in the food chain, including hazards that may be associated with the type of process and facilities used, are identified and assessed. Thus it provides the means to determine and document why certain identified hazards need to be controlled by a particular organization and why others need not
(EBM converted from HACCP to ISO 22000:2005 in 2008 through URS).
ISO 27001:2005
ISO 27001 formally specifies a management system that is intended to bring information security under explicit management control. Being a formal specification means that it mandates specific requirements.
ISO 27001 requires that management:
- Systematically examine the organization's information security risks, taking account of the threats, vulnerabilities and impacts;
- Design and implement a coherent and comprehensive suite of information security controls and/or other forms of risk treatment (such as risk avoidance or risk transfer) to address those risks that are deemed unacceptable; and
- Adopt an overarching management process to ensure that the information security controls continue to meet the organization's information security needs on an ongoing basis
The ISO 27001 certificate does not necessarily mean the remainder of the organization, outside the scoped area, has an adequate approach to information security management.
(EBM acquired this certification for its Information Systems department in 2007 through URS, and is planning to expand it throughout the organization in upcoming years).
Halaal Certification:
Halaal refers to things or actions permitted by Shariah law without punishment imposed on the doer. It is usually used to describe something that a Muslim is permitted to engage in, e.g. eat, drink or use.
Halaal Certification is recognition that the products are permissible under Islamic law. These products are thus edible, drinkable or usable by Muslims.
For the consumer, the benefits of halaal certification are clear i.e. knowing a product is halaal-certified means he or she does not have to bother checking all the ingredients. The consumer can purchase the product with the assurance it does not contain anything that is haram or doubtful.
(EBM acquired Halaal certification in 2009 through IFANCA).
