The textile and garment testing laboratory (TGTL) of the Textile Training and Services Centre (TTSC) became the first textile testing laboratory in Sri Lanka to achieve ISO 9001: 2000 certification, says a press release. This laboratory has been in the forefront of TGTL since it began commercial testing activities in 1986. Since then, it has been updating its equipment and quality management systems to cater to the demands of the industry. This approach has helped the laboratory to become the first to reach this milestone.

The assistance received from UNIDO/UNDP during the early stages and from JICA in recent years, in obtaining state of the art equipment and training of laboratory staff by foreign experts in Sri Lanka and abroad expedited the achieving of this status. It can now claim to be on par with any other textile testing laboratory in the world. The laboratory is equipped to perform tests in accordance to ISO, ASTM, AATCC, BS, JIS and SLSI standards.

Garment industrialists who were dependent on foreign laboratories for their testing requirements now have a service in Sri Lanka at a lower cost and in a shorter time. This gives the local garment industry a "competitive edge" to overcome the challenges posed by foreign competitors.