@Denian - what do civil engineers do when their bosses tell them to do something illegal?
The certification would be required at both levels, same as with civil engineering: the company would have to certify that the software was built/updated by certificated programmers and to work as a professional programmer you would need to finish a certified course at a university, and join a professional association.
@tom_andraszek That's part of the problem right there. Not all good programmers have the mindset to finish university, and not all those who finish university turn out to be good programmers. In fact, many of the best are self-taught or "only" went through job training. The mental skillsets needed for either just aren't that congruent.