By Giulia Petroni

Volkswagen AG said Monday that it has been certified to have met its commitment to implement a program aimed at preventing and detecting violations of anti-fraud and environmental laws under a plea agreement with the U.S. Justice Department related to its 2017 diesel emissions settlement.

The German car maker said that since 2017 it has updated and strengthened its structures and systems in technical development, governance, risk management, compliance and legal functions, among other divisions.

The U.S. Justice Department had appointed Larry D. Thompson as the independent compliance monitor that had to certify the company.

"Mr. Thompson and his team have helped us make Volkswagen a stronger, more transparent company, but the end of the monitorship is not the end of our journey," Herbert Diess, chairman of the Volkswagen group's board of management, said. "I am committed to the continuous improvement of our organization and its culture, and so are all my board of management colleagues"

The certification covers the company's subsidiaries and affiliates other than Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America, which were not part of the monitorship, according to Volkswagen.

Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to having rigged some 11 million of its diesel vehicles world-wide with software that allowed them to dodge government emissions tests. As part of the 2017 settlement, it agreed to compliance reforms, under the oversight of Mr. Thompson. 


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Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com