Italian job
Italy is a bubbling pot of auditors, certification and quality and the new ISO 17024 standard promises to raise the heat even more. Here INform takes a look at the current auditing climate in Italy and explores what the new standard means for auditors and accreditation bodies alike
The worldwide growth of ISO certifications, particularly ISO 9001, has been steady over the last ten years and at the last count there were over 670,000 certificates in existence worldwide. Italy has seen a major growth in recent years in successful ISO certifications, managing to increase its number of ISO 9001 from 64,120 in 2003 to over 84,000 in 2004 (12 per cent of all ISO 9001 certificates worldwide). The only country ahead of Italy in this respect was China (see table 1).
The ISO 14001 environmental management standard showed similar growth patterns for Italy as well, although it did not perform as well as other countries. In 2003, Italy had just 3,066 ISO 14001 certificates and was ranked eighth in the world behind the UK, China, Spain, Germany and Japan who had 13,416. However, the following year, Italy had increased its number of certificates to 4,785 (five per cent of all certificates issued worldwide) and risen to fourth in the world for number of certificates issued (see table 1).
Table 1. Top ten countries in 2004
Top ten countries for ISO 9001:2000 certificates |
Top ten countries for ISO 14001certificates |
China: 132,926 |
Japan : 19 584 |
Italy : 84 485 |
China : 8 862 |
United Kingdom : 50 884 |
Spain : 6 473 |
Japan : 48 989 |
United Kingdom : 6 253 |
Spain : 40 972 |
Italy : 4 785 |
USA : 37 285 |
USA : 4 759 |
France : 27 101 |
Germany : 4 320 |
Germany : 26 654 |
Sweden : 3 478 |
Australia : 17 365 |
France : 2 955 |
India : 12 558 |
Korea, Rep. of : 2 609 |
So, with the impressive increase in ISO certifications in Italy opportunities are there for auditors, certification bodies and consultants. There is a warning to be given, however. Experience in other markets has showed that certification, once commoditized, can be bought and sold on the basis of price alone, driving down the costs of certification for those organizations that simply want a ‘certificate on the wall’, but also driving down the revenues for certification bodies and, importantly for auditors, the auditor day rates. Once this cycle has started, it is difficult to stop. Poor day rates attract less experienced and competent auditors, which leads to less effective audit teams and audits, which in turn lead to less value in the certification process.
And for customers of certified organizations this is a problem: they do not want to see suppliers with a meaningless ticket on the wall, they want a certificate that provides them with confidence that the supplier will supply consistent, conforming product. For example, the Italian energy giant, ENEL, recently carried out 320 audits of 136 suppliers, of which 120 were certified to ISO 9001, to assess their conformity with the standard. Its findings were that 11 % of audits were “unacceptable”, putting product conformity at risk. This is clearly not a viable long term strategy for the certification industry, but what can be done?
Some point to the auditors and demand more competence and auditor certification must of course play a part. Using auditors certified by an auditor certification body accredited to ISO 17024:2003 has been seen to be one way to achieve this, and IRCA plans to be accredited to this relatively new standard this year. However, let’s not get too excited. RABQSA (the USA’s auditor certification body) cancelled the requirements for auditors to transfer to its much publicised ISO 17024 certification scheme in 2005, indicating possible problems with interest in this more expensive certification from certification bodies and auditors. It seems more and better qualifications for auditors will cost, and the evidence indicates that auditors on decreasing day rates and certification bodies subject to a price sensitive market will not be able to or want to pay. RABQSA in America, CEPAS in Italy and IRCA globally clearly face the challenge to provide an accredited solution that meets ISO 17024 requirements and market needs.
Perhaps we also should ask if we can really make improvements from the bottom (auditors) up or if the industry’s problems really lie with the bodies at the top that ultimately control certification: the accreditation bodies. The IAF, to which the National System for the Accreditation of Certification and Inspection Bodies (SINCERT) belongs, has recognized that the market is losing confidence in accredited certification and is considering how to address this from an accreditation point of view. ISO, IAF and CASCO have also set up an ISO 9001 Advisory Group (IAG) to address threats to the credibility of ISO 9001:2000. These initiatives are a start.
IRCA in Italy
Apart from its work with ISO 17024 and with international groups such as the IAG’s Auditing Practices Group, IRCA is making some significant changes in Italy. A large number of IRCA’s 13,000 certified auditors are based in Italy and, in response to increasing demand in Italy and feedback from their auditors, IRCA is increasing its service. This includes:
- a new Italian language website italy.irca.org
- this quarterly IRCA INform magazine published in Italian
- an Italian speaking Certification Officer in our offices to answers questions and provide help and support to auditors. IRCA states that it cannot accept applications for certification in Italian at this stage, however all the forms and documents are provided in Italian.
- an Italian language Knowledge Bank with articles, case studies and information to support auditor development
The final word is best left with IRCA’s deputy director, Vincent Desmond, who states:'we see great potential for Italy and as an international auditor certification body we plan to support accredited certification there as actively and effectively as we can. But there are challenges for the industry and the next two years will be interesting.'
Please contact IRCA for more details at www.irca.org, or visit the new Italian version on italy.irca.org