Impartiality Management and Commitment to Impartiality Policy

1. Acknowledgment of Impartiality’s Importance

• Recognize the necessity of maintaining impartiality in all certification activities.
• Ensure that all personnel, both internal and external, are aware of the need for impartiality.
• Highlight the certification body’s responsibility for maintaining impartiality in all conformity assessment activities.
• Prevent any commercial, financial, or other pressures that might compromise impartiality.

2. Identification of Threats to Impartiality

• Identify potential threats such as self-interest, self-review, familiarity or trust, and intimidation.
• Implement processes to identify, analyze, evaluate, treat, monitor, and document risks related to conflicts of interest.
• Continuously assess relationships that could impact impartiality.

3. Management of Impartiality

• Conduct conformity assessment activities without bias, avoiding any commercial, financial, or other pressures that might compromise impartiality.
• Top management should demonstrate a commitment to impartiality, effectively manage conflicts of interest, and ensure objectivity in certification activities.
• Develop a comprehensive process to identify, analyze, evaluate, treat, monitor, and document risks related to conflicts of interest and threats to impartiality, including documentation and management of residual risks.
• Involve relevant interested parties in consultation processes to address matters affecting impartiality.

4. Prohibitions and Restrictions on Certification Activities

• Prohibit the certification of other certification bodies for their quality management systems.
• Avoid offering or providing management system consultancy to maintain impartiality; however, exchanging information or clarifying requirements is permissible.
• Refrain from providing internal audits to certified clients, as this poses a significant threat to impartiality.
• Do not certify a management system if the client received consultancy from a body related to the certification body within the last two years.
• Prohibit outsourcing audits to management system consultancy organizations.
• Ensure that certification activities are not marketed or linked with consultancy organizations to prevent claims that certification would be easier with specific consultancy organizations.

5. Conflict of Interest Management

• Personnel who have provided consultancy should not participate in audits or certification activities related to the client they consulted for a minimum of two years.
• Actively respond to any threats to impartiality from actions of other bodies or organizations.
• Require all personnel to act impartially and avoid any form of pressure that could compromise their impartiality.
• Personnel must disclose any situation that may present a conflict of interest, and such information should be used to identify and manage threats to impartiality.
  1. Acknowledgment of Impartiality’s Importance
  • Recognize the necessity of maintaining impartiality in all certification activities.
  • Ensure that all personnel, both internal and external, are aware of the need for impartiality.
  • Highlight the certification body’s responsibility for maintaining impartiality in all conformity assessment activities.
  • Prevent any commercial, financial, or other pressures that might compromise impartiality.
  2. Identification of Threats to Impartiality
  • Identify potential threats such as self-interest, self-review, familiarity or trust, and intimidation.
  • Implement processes to identify, analyze, evaluate, treat, monitor, and document risks related to conflicts of interest.
  • Continuously assess relationships that could impact impartiality.
  3. Management of Impartiality
  • Conduct conformity assessment activities without bias, avoiding any commercial, financial, or other pressures that might compromise impartiality.
  • Top management should demonstrate a commitment to impartiality, effectively manage conflicts of interest, and ensure objectivity in certification activities.
  • Develop a comprehensive process to identify, analyze, evaluate, treat, monitor, and document risks related to conflicts of interest and threats to impartiality, including documentation and management of residual risks.
  • Involve relevant interested parties in consultation processes to address matters affecting impartiality.
  4. Prohibitions and Restrictions on Certification Activities
  • Prohibit the certification of other certification bodies for their quality management systems.
  • Avoid offering or providing management system consultancy to maintain impartiality; however, exchanging information or clarifying requirements is permissible.
  • Refrain from providing internal audits to certified clients, as this poses a significant threat to impartiality.
  • Do not certify a management system if the client received consultancy from a body related to the certification body within the last two years.
  • Prohibit outsourcing audits to management system consultancy organizations.
  • Ensure that certification activities are not marketed or linked with consultancy organizations to prevent claims that certification would be easier with specific consultancy organizations.
  5. Conflict of Interest Management
  • Personnel who have provided consultancy should not participate in audits or certification activities related to the client they consulted for a minimum of two years.
  • Actively respond to any threats to impartiality from actions of other bodies or organizations.
  • Require all personnel to act impartially and avoid any form of pressure that could compromise their impartiality.
  • Personnel must disclose any situation that may present a conflict of interest, and such information should be used to identify and manage threats to impartiality.