According to official documents obtained by Oxebridge, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) issued a formal resolution endorsing ISO 17021-1:2015: Conformity Assessment – Requirements for Bodies Providing Audit and Certification of Management Systems a year before the standard is set to be published, and based only on an unratified, draft version of the standard.
In October 2014, at its 28th General Assembly meeting in Vancouver, the IAF issued Resolution 2014-12, announcing:
The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to endorse ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015, as a normative document. The General Assembly further agreed that the transition period for the implementation of ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 will be two years from the date of
publication.
ISO 17021-1 is currently in draft international stage (DIS) and not expected to be published until late 2015. The standard, which Oxebridge has learned guts requirements for certification bodies to have an independent impartiality committee or to maintain a public registry of their certified clients, is receiving early criticism for its overwhelming bias in favor of CBs, and its lack of consideration for ISO 9001 end user organizations. Previous Oxebridge reporting revealed that the committee responsible for development of ISO 17021 — CASCO — is comprised of current or former CB and Accreditation Body representatives, and lacks any representation from ISO 9001 end users or CB customers. The IAF is also comprised of many of the same CASCO members, casting doubts on the independent review by IAF of the new 17021-1 standard.
ISO 17021-1 is expected to go through at least one revision prior to final voting, so the IAF decision was not based on a document which has been internationally accepted, making the premature IAF endorsement lend credence to the theory that the ISO 17021-1 standard will be ratified despite criticism.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
