What is conformity assessment and how does it relate to the ISO 14000 standards?

Conformity assessment is a general term that covers any situation in which a person or an organization tries to determine if the requirements of a standard are being met. In the case of a management system standard such as the ISO 14001 EMS specification, conformity assessment by an accredited third party is the basis for the "certification" or "registration" of an organization to the standard.

As with the ISO 9000 standards, the value of an ISO 14001 certification depends on the confidence that others have in the body that performs the certification, and in the process it uses. There must be some assurance that the certification was performed rigorously and fairly. This confidence is provided through the process of accreditation - that is, the recognition that a certifying body is qualified to do the work.

Although TC 207 is not directly responsible for establishing a conformity assessment system to support certification to its ISO 14001 standard, we are both monitoring and participating in international efforts in this area. Much of this work is taking place through CASCO, the ISO Committee on Conformity Assessment. In 1996, CASCO formed an EMS working group, whose mandate includes developing general requirements for bodies operating assessment and certification/registration for environmental management systems. At present, the group is working on a guide that will lay out requirements for certification bodies and for the certification process.

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