Washington – The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) achieves the global standard of excellence for the agency’s production of the U.S. passport and secure Federal credentials.  GPO’s production facilities in Washington, D.C. have achieved ISO 9001:2015 certification.  GPO attained ISO certification in 2010 and this recertification has been achieved by meeting the new standards and demonstrating a long standing practice of consistency. 

ISO is the International Organization for Standardization and the world’s largest developer of international standards used by Government, business and new information technology companies and agencies. More than one million companies and organizations in 170 countries are ISO 9001-certified.  This standard is attained by demonstrating a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach, and continual improvement.  Using ISO 9001:2015 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits.

“This certification shows our Federal agency customers and the American public the high standards GPO sets for the production of our Nation’s most secure credentials,” said GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks.  “GPO is proud of our long-standing partnership with the Department of State in continuing to seek out the best process and technology in making the U.S. passport the gold standard of secure credentials, as well as our capability to produce secure credentials for Federal agencies that meet their requirements for security and operational capability.”

GPO has been producing passports for the Department of State since the 1920s at its secure facility in Washington, D.C. In 2008, to meet the rising demand by American people for passports and the need for an alternative production facility, GPO opened a second secure production facility in Mississippi. In 2012, GPO implemented secure credential operations at the Mississippi facility to back up operations in Washington, DC.  GPO employees produced more than 20 million passports in FY 2016, and more than three million other secure credentials.