Oxebridge founder Christopher Paris was cited in a study entitled “Faking ISO 9001 in China: An Exploratory Study,” published in the October 2018 edition of Business Horizons. The authors are Iñaki Heras-Saizarbitoria of the University of the Basque Country, and Olivier Boiral of the Université Laval in Quebec.
The study traces the roots of fake ISO 9001 certificates and their growth in China, noting that China’s culture “does not view counterfeiting with the same level of contempt as other cultures do,” and that the Chinese government actively endorses the falsification of ISO 9001 certificates because it sees “this type of certification as a passport to international trade and a way to project an image that the manufacturing industries are cutting-edge, world class, etc.”
The paper cites Paris’ writing on the concept of the “certificate mills” operating in the ISO 9001 certification scheme, and their growth. It recounts Paris’ discussion of how when he was on a CB Advisory Board, he observed how the US registrar was inundated with 700 fake ISO 9001 certificates within weeks of the opening of their Chinese branch.
The paper may be downloaded for free through Research Gate.
Despite widespread international agreement that fake ISO 9001 certificates are proliferating, ISO and IAF have been paralyzed to take any action. Oxebridge is pressing the various bodies to take action, but to date they have generally rejected any data that shows ISO 9001 popularity is declining.
Both ISO and ASQ have invested heavily in expanding in China, and have tamped down criticisms of the country.
