13 February 2002, London:
The Standards & Technical Regulations Directorate of the DTI [the UK government Department of Trade & Industry] has provided the following reaction to Dr Eicher's comments about the 'policing' of ISO 9000.
"In considering Dr Eicher's comments, the DTI considers that it is important to bear in mind that ISO 9000 is a voluntary standard. As Dr Eicher has explained, ISO itself does not 'control'certification bodies and it should be noted, in addition, that there is no legislation specifically covering certification in this or, as far as the DTI is aware, any other country.
"However, in response to a market need for assurance of the competence and integrity of certification bodies, the DTI helped to develop the process of accreditation and in 1995 established the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) as the sole national accreditation body in this field with Government recognition.
"The DTI is confident that consumers, users and purchasers in the UK can rely on the integrity and competence of certification bodies that have been accredited by UKAS. Any person or organisation that has a complaint about any such body is strongly encouraged to contact UKAS if the body does not respond in a satisfactory way.
"There are certification bodies which choose to operate without UKAS accreditation and there is nothing to prevent them doing so provided that they do not contravene the general company, competition or consumer legislation. However, it must be recognised that these certification bodies cannot offer the same assurance of competence and integrity as those accredited by UKAS.
"Against this background, the DTI encourages certification bodies to seek accreditation by UKAS and recommends that businesses use UKAS accredited certification bodies wherever this is an option. We are also fully supportive of the UKAS Accreditation Awareness Campaign which is aimed at ensuring that the benefits of using UKAS accredited conformity assessment services are fully understood within the market place as a whole.
"In this way we hope that the 'policing' of ISO 9000 can be achieved in an appropriate but satisfactory way".