The LLPI Leather and Leather Products Industry of Ethiopia generates the second major exportrnincome of the country with between 10 and 20 % of total foreign earnings. International market isrnsensitive to regulations and standards like, environment, safety and quality; where ISO: 9001rncertification for quality management system is currently a popular requirement for the industry. Itrnis claimed that installing quality management system not only boosts market competitiveness butrnenhance efficiency, productivity and profitability. This study addresses the importance, challenges,rnassistance and gap analysis in implementation of ISO 9001:2000 in selected organizations in thernLLPI. The industry is stratified under tannery, foot wear, and leather products. 25 organizationsrnwere selected that represent 73% of the tanneries, 38% of the footwear manufacturers and 29% ofrnthe leather product manufacturers of the country. Cluster samples of Addis Ababa, D/Zeit, Nazrethrnand Modjo were used due to concentration on these areas. The study is descriptive andrnexplanatory in nature where both primary and secondary data are in use.rnDespite the grueling requirements of the international market only two organizations has beenrncertified. The advantages to be gained due to ISO certification includes new market entry, betterrnprice, and maintenance of customers that lead to profitability and growth of the organization.rnAlso, productivity could be boosted with increased efficiency and effectiveness in internalrnmanagement processes. The challenges faced include the cost of certification, time and effortrnneeded to develop required documentation and infrastructure to satisfy the requirements. The lackrnof commitment by owners of the organizations is also a major set back observed. Even there arernvarious support organizations working around the leather industry only few focused on therncertification of ISO 9001:2000. In the gap analysis unsatisfied requirements by most of thernorganizations include; lack of proper QMS documentation, procedure and records, poor productrnrealization tools, missing infrastructure, poor quality objective setting, and lack of continuousrnimprovement tools. Hence, a lot remains by support organizations in creating awareness andrndevising means to eliminate the challenges faced in the certification processes. With thernaccreditation of the Quality and Standard Authority of Ethiopia QSAE for ISO 9001rncertification; major part of the industry could be certified with reasonable cost and effort, byrnrestructuring their existing documents, management system and infrastructure if the commitmentrnof the owners of the organizations is gained.