(ISO: Geneva) -- The International Organization for Standardization and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) have agreed on an implementation plan to ensure a smooth transition of accredited certification to ISO 9001:2008, the latest version of the standard for quality management systems (QMS). The details of the plan are given in the joint communiqué by the two organizations.

Like all of ISO’s more than 17,000 standards, ISO 9001 is periodically reviewed to ensure that it’s maintained at the state of the art and a decision taken to confirm, withdraw or revise the document. ISO 9001:2008, which is due to be published before the end of the year, will replace the year 2000 version of the standard, which is implemented by business and public-sector organizations in 170 countries. Although certification isn’t a requirement of the standard, the QMS of about one million organizations have been audited and certified by independent certification bodies (also known in some countries as registration bodies) to ISO 9001:2000.

ISO 9001 certification is frequently used in private and public sectors to increase confidence in the products and services provided by certified organizations, between partners in business-to-business relations, in the selection of suppliers in supply chains and in the right to tender for procurement contracts.

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