ACBCB FAQ

• What is ACBCB?

ACBCB is an independent & impartial International accreditation body. It is a non-Profit organization. It accepts application from conformity assessment bodies (CAB) operating anywhere in the world. It operates in accordance with the requirements, the rule & regulation and guidelines of International Standard ISO/IEC 17011. The applicant and conformity assessment bodies accredited by ACBCB are clearly declared not to mean to give impression to any member of the public that ACBCB act with the approval of the government. It is an independent, impartial and non governmental body and not connected with government. It provides service to the satisfaction of its customers in accordance with the national and international norms. It is committed to provide equal opportunity to all the applicants with highest regard to transparency, integrity, and confidentiality. It accredits organization in accordance with the trade & industry accepted criteria, International Standards, Guides and other normative documents. Accreditation approval committee makes decisions concerning about granting and continuation of accreditation services. Accreditation & Certification these terms have very different and specific meanings. ACBCB has been established in 2007 through the joint initiatives of the industries

• What is the objective of ACBCB?

The objective of ACBCB is to establish and offer accreditation schemes, based on internationally accepted standards, for certification bodies and inspection bodies engaged in providing services of system certification (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 etc.), product certification and inspection.

• What is accreditation?

Accreditation is the formal recognition of competence. In our context it relates to competence of certification bodies and inspection bodies.

• Why is accreditation needed?

Accreditation is the recognized mechanism accepted by WTO / TBT agreements for establishing equivalence of certification/ inspection schemes operated in different countries as also the test results of various laboratories

Clause 6.1.1 of TBT Agreement refers to mutually satisfactory understanding regarding adequate and enduring technical competence of the relevant conformity assessment bodies in the exporting Member, so that confidence in the continued reliability of their conformity assessment results can exist; in this regard, verified compliance, for instance through accreditation, with relevant guides or recommendations issued by international standardizing bodies shall be taken into account as an indication of adequate technical competence;

• What are the accreditation schemes offered by ACBCB now?

ACBCB offers accreditation in the areas of Management System Certification [based on ISO 9001 (QMS), ISO 14001 (EMS), ISO 22000 (FSMS)] , Product Certification and Inspection bodies.

• How does ACBCB obtain its finances and wht is the fee structure for accreditation?

ACBCB obtains its finances through the services offered and from no other sources. The fee structure is decided by ACBCB Board from time to time. The current fee structure is a part of the application pack and is also available on request

• How does ACBCB ensures that its accreditation is recognized worldwide?

ACBCB is a member of the International Independent Accreditation Forum. This status has been achieved after undergoing an assessment by our peers from other countries.

• How does ACBCB ensures that its accreditation is recognized worldwide?

ACBCB is a member of the International Independent Accreditation Forum. This status has been achieved after undergoing an assessment by our peers from other countries.

• How can a company not satisfied with the Certification Body, complain against it?

Each Certification body has a procedure to resolve the complaints, disputes and appeals. The company should first write to the certification body for resolution of the complaint, dispute or appeal.

In case the certification body is not able to satisfy the company raising complaint, dispute or appeal, then the company can approach the respective accreditation body with complete details of the matter for redressal. If ACBCB is approached with the complaint, it will be forwarded to the respective accreditation body if the certification body referred in the complaint is not accredited by ACBCB.

If the complaint/dispute or appeal does not have the name and address of the sender and/or is not accompanied by the relevant evidence of the basis of complaint and the effort to resolve the complaint with the Certification Body, ACBCB will reserve the right to decide whether to process the complaint, Dispute or appeal or not.

• How can a customer complain against an ISO Certified Company?

Each of the Certified Company has procedure to address the complaints of the customers. If the customer is not happy with the redressal of his complaint, he/she should complain to the respective Certification Body for redressal of their complaint.