Appointment of certification bodies
1. Certification schemes shall ensure that certification bodies appointed to carry out auditing activities, including certification audits (validation), and re-certification and monitoring audits (verification), comply with the rules laid down in this Article, with the exception of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 in the case of certification bodies recognised by a national competent authority referred to in Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3012.
2. Certification bodies shall be accredited in accordance with EN ISO/IEC 17065. When a certification body conducts verification activities, either with its internal resources or with other resources under its direct control, it shall also meet the applicable requirements of EN ISO/IEC 17029 and EN ISO 14065. Certification bodies shall only use other resources for audits that have the necessary knowledge, experience, skills and capacity to effectively perform all necessary auditing activities, including validation and verification.
3. The accreditation of certification bodies shall be conducted by national accreditation bodies in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 3 ) and shall cover the specific scope of certification of the schemes in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/3012. When assessing the qualifications of a certification body for the purpose of paragraph 2, the national accreditation body shall take into account any accreditation previously obtained for the relevant activity group in accordance with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/996 ( 4 ) or Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2067 ( 5 ) , for the certification of, respectively, carbon farming, or permanent carbon removals and carbon storage in products.
4. Certification bodies shall select and appoint the audit team in accordance with EN ISO/IEC 17021-1 in conjunction with EN ISO/IEC 19011, taking into account the competence needed to achieve the objectives of the audit. The audit team shall have the necessary knowledge, experience, skills and capacity to effectively conduct the audit. Where there is only one auditor, the auditor shall also have the necessary knowledge, skills, experience, training and capacity to perform the duties of an audit team leader applicable for that audit.
5. Auditors chosen by certification bodies shall meet the following requirements:
(a)
be independent of the activity being audited;
(b)
be free from conflict of interest, for instance not being involved in consultancy with the same operator over the past 3 years previous to the audit;
(c)
have the knowledge, experience, skills and capacity necessary for effectively conducting the audit related to the certification scheme’s scope, including:
(1)
a minimum of 2 years’ experience in Life-Cycle Assessment, or proven relevant level of capacity;
(2)
specific experience in auditing GHG emission calculations in accordance with the relevant certification methodology;
(3)
depending on the specific types of activity audited, additional experience as relevant in the fields of agriculture, agronomy, ecology, forestry, natural science, silviculture, engineering, building materials and embodied carbon, energy management or a related field;
(4)
where the scope of the audit includes verifying soil organic carbon levels, technical knowledge on soil science;
(d)
for group auditing, they shall have experience in conducting group audits.
6. The governance system of the certification body shall ensure the highest possible level of independence of the auditors’ judgement by applying principles of auditors’ rotation or other existing best practices in the area.
7. Certification bodies that are no longer entitled to conduct auditing under a certification scheme shall be listed for at least 24 months on the scheme’s website after the last audit with an indication to that effect.
Training of certification bodies
1. Certification schemes shall set up robust training courses for auditors of the certification bodies appointed by the scheme, covering all aspects relevant to the scope of the scheme. The courses shall include an examination to demonstrate the participants’ compliance with the training requirements in the technical area or areas in which they are active. Auditors shall participate in the training courses before performing audits on behalf of the certification scheme.
2. Certification schemes shall implement a system to monitor the training status of auditors and ensure that auditors undertake training on a regular basis. Certification schemes shall also provide necessary guidance to certification bodies on aspects that are relevant to the certification process, including updates on the regulatory framework or relevant findings from the certification scheme’s internal monitoring process.
Supervision of certification bodies by the Member States and the Commission
1. Certification schemes shall require certification bodies conducting audits under the scheme, as well operators participating in the scheme, to cooperate with the Commission and the national competent authorities of the Member States, including granting access to the premises of operators where requested, as well as making available to the Commission and the national competent authorities of the Member States all information needed to fulfil their tasks under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3012. Certification bodies shall:
(a)
provide the information needed by Member States to supervise the operation of certification bodies pursuant to Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3012;
(b)
provide the information required by the Commission to comply with Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3012;
(c)
verify the accuracy of information entered into the relevant certification registry and the Union Registry pursuant to Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3012.
2. Member States may delegate the supervision of certification bodies to the national accreditation bodies pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.
3. In the context of the supervision provided for in Article 10(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3012, Member States may establish procedures allowing certification bodies recognised by a national competent authority referred to in Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3012, regardless of whether their head office is located in their Member State, to register for supervision, and for carrying out the supervision.
4. Member States shall exchange information and share best practices on how to supervise the operation of the certification bodies in the context of a formal cooperation framework. Where certification bodies carry out the certification of activities related to carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products in more than one Member State, the Member States concerned shall set up a common framework to supervise such certification bodies, including appointing one Member State as lead audit supervisor.
5. The lead audit supervisor shall be responsible, in cooperation with the other Member States concerned, for consolidating and sharing information with other Member States about the outcome of the supervision of the certification bodies.
6. Where a Member State has reasonable doubts about the ability of a specific certification body to carry out its audit work, it shall share that information with the other Member States, the Commission and the certification scheme under which the certification body operates. The certification scheme concerned shall immediately investigate the case. Upon completion of its investigation, the certification scheme shall inform the Member States and the Commission of the outcome of the investigation and of any corrective actions taken.
7. Operators and certification bodies failing or unwilling to comply with the requirements set out in paragraphs 1 to 5 shall be respectively excluded from participating in and conducting audits on behalf of certification schemes.
