BSI has responded with an unsigned denial to an official complaint from Oxebridge, which alleged its Entropy software violates ISO 17021 rules against accredited certification bodies providing “specific solutions” towards implementation of ISO 9001.

In a short anonymous reply, available here, BSI claims the Entropy software “is not a consultancy service” but offers no explanation or evidence to support this claim. BSI then puts the responsibility back on its accreditation bodies, who it claims have “have confirmed our compliance with ISO 17021:2011.”

ISO 17021 does not limit its prohibition against consultancy to only “services,” but to any “specific solution” which can be used to implement a management system for which BSI would later certify:

3.3 management system consultancy: participation in designing, implementing or maintaining a management system
EXAMPLES
a) preparing or producing manuals or procedures, and
b) giving specific advice, instructions or solutions towards the development and implementation of a management
system.
NOTE Arranging training and participating as a trainer is not considered consultancy, provided that, where the course relates to management systems or auditing, it is confined to the provision of generic information that is freely available in the public domain; i.e. the trainer should not provide company-specific solutions.

The Oxebridge complaint alleged that BSI has certified users of its Entropy software, something the company did not deny.

Oxebridge will be elevating the complaint to UKAS, the accreditation body responsible for BSI’s certification. The expected focus of the escalation will be that Entropy is not “generic information that is freely available in the public domain” since BSI markets the product as customized, and the software is not public domain.

Oxebridge is also examining if BSI has broken trade laws, in that it has created an environment where it can cite users of competing software products, thereby giving its Entropy product an unfair advantage in the marketplace. Oxebridge has at least one example of BSI issuing a nonconformance against a non-BSI software product used in the same capacity that Entropy is sold for.

“Because UKAS is paid by BSI,” said Christopher Paris, VP Operations for Oxebridge and author of the complaint, “we fully expect UKAS to side with BSI. Therefore we are already drafting our escalation to the IAF and preparing testimony to the World Trade Organization, as well as examining the laws against unfair trade practices here in the US.”

Oxebridge emphasizes that it is in a data gathering phase only, and is not accusing BSI of unfair trade at this time.

 

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