Marubeni Corp. said Thursday that it has become the nation's first trading firm to qualify for an ISO certification for international quality management.

The ISO, which stands for International Organization for Standardization, is the creator of a global quality standard for manufactured goods. Since the 1980s, however, the organization has been creating standards such as the ISO9000 series to certify corporate management systems and quality control for products and services.

Marubeni, one of Japan's largest trading firms, began mulling the benefits of having the ISO9002 about two years ago because many construction and public works projects, especially those in Europe, require bidders to have the certification to do business.

After more than a year of gathering information and documents needed to attain the coveted status, Marubeni's Steel Tubular Products Department finally got the ISO9002, which is given to manufacturers, last month, the company officials said.

The numerous ISO9000 series standards cover in-house auditing and a manual detailing the procedures used to deal with defective products. "We thought we could not continue business without the ISO9002 since many of our trading partners abroad have begun asking us to get (the certification)," said Takeshi Mitomi, general manager of the Line Pipe Section of Marubeni's Steel Tubular Products Department.

"Since other trading firms have not obtained an ISO9000 series certification yet, it will be our strength in winning overseas projects," he said.

The firm's other sections, which deal in chemical products and machinery, are also planning to apply for certification, the company said. Other trading firms will follow, but it takes at least a year to obtain the certification, according to Marubeni.