Certification bodies around the world have until Sept. 15, 2008 to implement ISO/IEC 17021:2006, the new standard designed to increase confidence in management system certification.

The International Accreditation Forum set the deadline in consultation with the International Organization for Standardization. ISO/IEC 17021:2006 requires verification of the competence and impartiality of the certification bodies that provide auditing and registration to standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

The IAF reports it’s giving certification bodies two full years to comply with the standard to give them plenty of time to translate and implement any necessary procedural changes, and to identify holes in their own quality management systems.

ISO/IEC 17021 replaces two documents: ISO/IEC Guide 61:1996 and ISO/IEC Guide 66:1996, which respectively provided requirements for certification bodies practicing quality and environmental management system certification.

For more information, visit www.iso.org/iso/en/commcentre/pressreleases/2006/Ref1041.html.

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