Mutual recognition of verifiers
1. Member States and competent authorities shall recognise the equivalence of the services delivered by those national accreditation bodies which have successfully undergone peer evaluation in accordance with Article 24. They shall accept the accreditation certificates and recognise the verification reports of verifiers accredited by those national accreditation bodies.
2. Where a national accreditation body has not undergone the complete peer evaluation process, Member States shall accept the accreditation certificates and recognise the verification reports of verifiers accredited by that national accreditation body provided that the body that is recognised as the organiser of peer evaluation referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008:
(a)
has granted an exemption pursuant to Article 24(4);
(b)
has started a peer evaluation for that national accreditation body and that it has not identified any non-compliance of the national accreditation body with this Regulation.
Peer evaluation
1. National accreditation bodies shall subject themselves to regular peer evaluation.
2. The body that is recognised as the organiser of peer evaluation in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 shall lay down and meet peer evaluation criteria and shall carry out an effective and independent peer evaluation process in order to assess whether the national accreditation body that is subject to the peer evaluation:
(a)
carries out the accreditation activities in accordance with Section 1 of Chapter II;
(b)
meets the requirements set out in Section 2 of Chapter II, Articles 14, 15 and 16, and this Chapter.
The peer evaluation criteria shall include competence requirements for peer evaluators and peer evaluation teams that are specific to the system for the calculation and verification of embedded emissions established by Regulation (EU) 2023/956.
3. The body that is recognised as the organiser of peer evaluation shall publish the outcome of the peer evaluation of a national accreditation body referred to in paragraph 1 and communicate it to the Commission, the national authorities responsible for the national accreditation bodies in the Member States, and the competent authority without delay.
4. Where a national accreditation body has successfully undergone a peer evaluation in the field of verification before 1 January 2026, the national accreditation body shall be exempted from undergoing a new peer evaluation from that date if it can demonstrate conformity with this Regulation.
To that end, the national accreditation body concerned shall submit a request and the necessary documentation to the body that is recognised as the organiser of peer evaluation.
The body that is recognised as the organiser of peer evaluation shall decide whether the conditions for granting an exemption have been met.
The exemption shall be granted automatically for those national accreditation bodies that are already successfully peer evaluated in accordance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2067.
The exemption shall apply for a period not exceeding four years from the date of notification of the decision of the body that is recognised as the organiser of peer evaluation to the national accreditation body.
Corrective action
1. Member States shall monitor their national accreditation bodies at regular intervals in order to ensure that they fulfil the requirements set out in this Regulation on an ongoing basis, taking into account the results of the peer evaluation carried out in accordance with Article 24.
2. Where the outcome of the peer evaluation pursuant to Article 24(3) is unsatisfactory, the national accreditation body shall cease to perform any activity or provide services under this Regulation until a satisfactory outcome of peer evaluation is reached.
Where the outcome of the peer evaluation pursuant to Article 24(3) is unsatisfactory or where the national accreditation body does not meet the requirements or fails to fulfil its obligations as set out in this Regulation, the Member State concerned shall take appropriate corrective action or ensure that such corrective action is taken.
