WASHINGTON — UL, a global safety science leader, and the Natural Products Association (NPA), the nation’s largest trade organization representing natural products, will partner to certify that dietary supplement makers are following federal guidelines and regulations — good manufacturing practices (GMPs) — that are considered to be an essential part of the government’s oversight of the ­industry.

As part of this collaboration, UL’s auditors will be trained in NPA’s GMP standard, as they will administer the certification program, the audit function and the final decision on whether a product meets the standard to achieve compliance.

Moreover, NPA and UL have developed a co-branded, dietary supplement–specific badge logo program for use in product labeling, such as marketing materials, websites and social media for dietary supplements. The use of the NPA and UL marks in the co-branded partnership will only be available for companies certified under the NPA GMP standard with audits conducted by UL.

NPA is also allowing use of the NPA mark on product labels for the first time. NPA’s partnership with UL is expected to open up new avenues for the industry to have its products tested for meeting label claims and the absence of adulterants.

Since 1999, NPA has provided GMP certification and education to dietary supplement manufacturers. NPA has trained more than 1,000 industry stakeholders. Last December, NPA and UL announced a partnership between the two organizations intended to bring increased educational opportunities to industry members. The education alliance combines NPA’s regulatory and compliance seminars, Web-based education and personalized, on-site training with training modules from EduNeering, the online regulatory training division of UL.

“NPA was the first organization to offer a third-party GMP certification program for the manufacturing of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients. The association’s standard has set the bar for the industry. UL is honored and excited to be able to move forward with NPA into the next stage of its prestigious program,” said Mike O’Hara, general manager of Global Nutraceuticals for UL.

“The opportunity to unite UL’s long tradition of consumer safety with NPA’s unmatched expertise in the dietary supplement industry is one that UL greatly welcomes and views as beneficial for all who make, sell and consume supplements.”

NPA and UL will also collaborate on a new webinar series exploring a variety of vital topics for the industry.