Migration to ISO 9001:2008

Migration To ISO 9001:2008The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Organization forStandardization (ISO) have agreed on an implementation plan to ensure a smooth transition ofaccredited certification to ISO 9001:2008, the latest version of the world’s most widely usedstandard for quality management systems (QMS).

The details of the plan are given in the jointcommuniqué by the two organizations which appears below.Like all of ISO’s more than 17 000 standards, ISO 9001 is periodically reviewed to ensure that itis maintained at the state of the art and a decision taken to confirm, withdraw or revise thedocument.ISO 9001:2008, which is due to be published before the end of the year, will replace the year2000 version of the standard which is implemented by both business and public sectororganizations in 170 countries.

Although certification is not a requirement of the standard, theQMS of about one million organizations have been audited and certified by independentcertification bodies (also known in some countries as registration bodies) to ISO 9001:2000.ISO 9001 certification is frequently used in both private and public sectors to increaseconfidence in the products and services provided by certified organizations, between partnersin business-to-business relations, in the selection of suppliers in supply chains and in the rightto tender for procurement contracts.ISO is the developer and publisher of ISO 9001, but does not itself carry out auditing andcertification. These services are performed independently of ISO by certification bodies.

ISO 9001 does not control such bodies, but does develop voluntary International Standards toencourage good practice in their activities on a worldwide basis. For example, ISO/IEC17021:2006 specifies the requirements for bodies providing auditing and certification ofmanagement systems.Certification bodies that wish to provide further confidence in their services may apply to be“accredited” as competent by an IAF recognized national accreditation body. ISO/IEC17011:2004 specifies the requirements for carrying out such accreditation. IAF is aninternational association whose membership includes the national accreditation bodies of 49economies.ISO technical committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, which isresponsible for the ISO 9000 family of standards, is preparing a number of support documentsexplaining what the differences are between ISO 9001:2008 and the year 2000 version, whyand what they mean for users. Once approved, these documents will be posted on the ISOWeb site – probably in October 2008.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and the IAF (International AccreditationForum) have agreed an implementation plan to ensure a smooth migration of accreditedcertification to ISO 9001:2008, after consultation with international groupings representingquality system or auditor certification bodies, and industry users of ISO 9001 certificationservices.ISO 9001:2008 does not contain any new requirementsThey have recognized that ISO 9001:2008 introduces no new requirements.

ISO 9001:2008 only introduces clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000 based on eightyears of experience of implementing the standard world wide with about one millioncertificates issued in 170 countries to date. It also introduces changes intended to improveconsistency with ISO14001:2004The agreed implementation plan in relation to accredited certification is therefore thefollowing:Accredited certification to the ISO 9001:2008 shall not be granted until the publication of ISO9001:2008 as an International Standard.

Certification of conformity to ISO 9001:2008 and/or national equivalents shall only be issuedafter official publication of ISO 9001:2008 (which should take place before the end of 2008)and after a routine surveillance or recertification audit against ISO 9001:2008.Validity of certifications to ISO 9001:2008 One year after publication of ISO 9001:2008 all accredited certifications issued (newcertifications or recertifications) shall be to ISO 9001:2008.Twenty four months after publication by ISO of ISO 9001:2008, any existing certification issuedto ISO 9001:2008 shall not be valid.