Will the ISO deadline change?
A joint communiqué from International Accreditation Forum (IAF), ISO/TC 176 and ISO/CASCO has confirmed the ISO 9001:2000 transition deadline of 15 December 2003 still stands. This brings an end to speculation that accredited bodies might extend the time limit for companies to transfer to the new standard. The three year transition period for migration of accredited certificates is definitely going to expire.
This should end uncertainty with regards to upgrading to the new ISO 9001:2000 standard. Companies that do not will be left with obsolete certification (ISO 9000:1994), which will not be recognised by UKAS, not to mention many companies' customers. UKAS launched an Accreditation Awareness Campaign in November 2000 with the aim of raising the profile of UKAS and the value that accreditation adds. It remains to be seen if the campaigning has worked.
A survey conducted by ISO in 2002, confirmed that the number of UK organisations upgrading to ISO 9001:2000 was very low. This research said the amount of UK certificates had fallen from 67,000 to 61,000 and of the 61,000 still held, only 16 per cent had obtained the new standard. However, these figures reflect the situation only up until December 2002, so it is very likely that the percentage of organisations now upgraded to the new standard is much higher. The new standard has four key areas of improvement, which are:
- less red tape - companies will find it easier to show that they satisfy regulatory requirements
- more customer satisfaction focused
- more flexibility, enabling companies to run QMSs in a way that is most relevant to them
- focus on continual improvement
ISO's survey also showed certification has grown by ten per cent internationally. This is down from the 20 per cent growth seen in 2001. Growth has been seen in the far east while demand in the UK has dropped.
The ISO survey shows an overall growth of ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 certification around the world. A total of 611,209 management systems were certificated to the ISO 9000 QMS, or the ISO 14001 EMS. This was a 12 per cent increase from the previous year.
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