/ Federal Public Service
MINISTRY OF DEVELOPMENT, INDUSTRY AND FOREIGN TRADE
BRAZILIAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF METROLOGY, QUALITY AND TECHNOLOGY - INMETRO
GENERAL COORDINATION FOR ACCREDITATION - Cgcre
(This field shall be filled in by Cgcre) CSA no. / 20

Commitment Statement of Accreditation

Type of Accreditation:
Company/Institution: / CNPJ (Corporate Taxpayer Identifying Number):
Address:
District: / City: / State: / Zip Code:
Conformity Assessment Body (CAB): / CNPJ (Corporate Taxpayer Identifying Number):
Address:
District: / City: / State: / Zip Code:

(Name of the Conformity Assessment Body- CAB), hereby represented by its legal representative(s) , title(s) , Identity Card number , CPF (Individual´s Identifying Number) , hereinafter denominated CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT BODY - CAB, considering that the Brazilian National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology - Inmetro, through the General Coordination for Accreditation - Cgcre, is the body that prepares the principles and the politics for the development, maintenance and operation of conformity assessment bodies, in the range of the Brazilian Conformity Assessment System - SBAC, on compliance to the guidance of the Brazilian National Council of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality - Conmetro; requires to Inmetro, federal autarchy created by the Law no. 5.966, in December 11th of 1973, CNPJ/MF number 00.662.270/0001-68, represented by the General Coordination for Accreditation – Cgcre - hereinafter denominated ACCREDITATION BODY, the rendering of the service of accreditation in the following terms and conditions.

DEFINITIONS:

The ACCREDITATION BODY integrally adopts and respects the concepts and definitions contained in ISO standards, using the concepts below, in the restrict extent of this commitment statement, exclusively with the purpose of facilitating the understanding and comprehension of the meaning of the following expressions:

  1. Accreditation:third-party attestation related to a CAB conveying formal demonstration of its competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks.[ISO/IEC 17000: 2005]
  2. Review:verification of the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of selection and determination activities, and the results of these activities, with regard to fulfilment of specified requirements by an object of conformity assessment.[ISO/IEC 17000: 2005]
  3. Appeal:request by a CAB for reconsideration of any adverse decision made by the accreditation body related to its desired accreditation status.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  4. Attestation:issue of a statement, based on a decision following review, that fulfilment of specified requirements has been demonstrated.[ISO/IEC 17000: 2005]
  5. Conformity assessment:demonstration that specified requirements relating to a product, process, system, person or body are fulfilled.[ISO/IEC 17000: 2005]
  6. Assessment:process undertaken by an accreditation body to assess the competence of a CAB, based on particular standard(s) and/or other normative documents, for a defined scope of accreditation.

Note:Assessing the competence of a CAB involves assessing the competence of the entire operations of the CAB, including the competence of the personnel, the validity of the conformity assessment methodology and the validity of the conformity assessment results.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]

  1. Assessor:person assigned by an accreditation body to perform, alone or as part of an assessment team, an assessment of a CAB.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  2. Withdrawing of accreditation:Process of cancelling accreditation in full.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  3. Certification:third-party attestation related to products, processes, systems or persons.[ISO/IEC 17000: 2005]
  4. Accreditation certificate:formal document or a set of documents, stating that accreditation has been granted for the defined scope.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  5. Scope of accreditation:specific conformity assessment services for which accreditation is sought or has been granted.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  6. Expert:person assigned by an accreditation body to provide specific knowledge or expertise with respect to the scope of accreditation to be assessed.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  7. Extending accreditationProcess of enlarging the scope of accreditation.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  8. Accreditation Body:authoritative body that performs accreditation.[ISO/IEC 17000: 2005]
  9. Conformity assessment body - CAB:body that performs conformity assessment services.[ISO/IEC 17000: 2005]
  10. Reassessment:process similar to an initial assessment exclusively applicable to accredited bodies.
  11. Complaint:expression of dissatisfaction, other than appeal, by any person or organization, to an accreditation body, relating to the activities of that accreditation body or of an accredited CAB, where a response is expected.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  12. Reducing accreditation:Process of cancelling accreditation for part of the scope of accreditation.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  1. Service of accreditation:set of assessment activities, with the purpose of making a decision regarding accreditation and its further maintenance, carried out by an ACCREDITATION BODY in order to check if a Conformity Assessment Body – CAB – complies with the established requirements to carry out conformity assessment tasks, during the term defined in the accreditation certificate. The rendering of the accreditation service does not obligatorily implies in granting an accreditation.
  2. Accreditation symbol:symbol issued by an accreditation body to be used by accredited CABs to indicate their accredited status.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]
  3. Surveillance:set of activities, except reassessment, to monitor the continued fulfilment by accredited CABs of requirements for accreditation.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]

Note:Surveillance includes both surveillance on-site assessments and other surveillance activities, such as the following:

a)enquiries from the accreditation body to the CAB on aspects concerning the accreditation;

b)reviewing the declarations of the CAB with respect to what is covered by the accreditation;

c)requests to the CAB to provide documents and records (e.g. audit reports, results of internal quality control for verifying the validity of CAB services, complaints records, management review records);

d)monitoring the performance of the CAB (such as results of participation in proficiency testing).

  1. Suspending accreditation:Process of temporarily making accreditation invalid, in full or for part of the scope of accreditation.[ISO/IEC 17011: 2005]

CLAUSE ONE – THE OBJECT

1.1 By means of this statement, the CAB requires to the ACCREDITATION BODY the rendering of its accreditation services, as detailed in a specific accreditation application, in compliance with the applicable normative documents.

1.2 The CAB competence assessment and the decision about its accreditation shall be carried out by the ACCREDITATION BODY before the beginning of CAB’s activities as an accredited body or whenever the ACCREDITATION BODY considers it necessary.

1.3 In order to have its technical competence attested and to maintain its accredited status, the CAB is committed to comply with all the clauses of these statement as well as with all the other requirements applicable to the scope of its accreditation contained in the documents specified and published at the webpage declaring henceforth to know, understand and accept them.

1.4 The CAB applying for accreditation or the accredited CAB commits to cooperate with the ACCREDITATION BODY, as well as the assessment teams designated by the ACCREDITATION BODY, providing and making available the access to all the documents, places and staff, as required by the ACCREDITATION BODY or the assessment team designated by the ACCREDITATION BODY.It is equally committed, in the form and deadline established in clause two, to the compliance with the consideration, under the penalty of immediate suspension of the accreditation.

CLAUSE TWO – THE CONSIDERATION

2.1 The ACCREDITATION BODY shall be paid by the services provided, as a public price, the amounts contained in the documents published at the site payment of the mentioned amount is exclusively done due to the service provision and does not guarantee the granting of the sought accreditation.The consideration is due to the service provision of the assessment of the technical competence of the CAB.

2.2 The CAB also commits to bear the expenses regarding assessments, surveillances, reductions, reassessments and extensions of accreditation and extraordinary assessments, including all professional fees’ expenses and per diem of assessors and experts, flight tickets and terrestrial travels assigned by the ACCREDITATION BODY.The per diem value shall be the one assigned for federal civil servants with academic degree, for the service provision place.

2.3 The CAB accepts that the no compliance with the consideration in the established deadline will result in the suspension of the accreditation, in 5 (five) working days after its notification, with no impairment of judicial and administrative actions adopted to receive the amount in default.

CLAUSE THREE – THE DEADLINE

3.1 The accreditation deadline is established in the Accreditation Certificate.

3.2 If the CAB does not meet any of the obligations mentioned herein, the accreditation can, at the ACCREDITATION BODY discretion, be immediately suspended or withdrawn.

CLAUSE FOUR – OBLIGATIONS UNDERTAKEN BY THE CAB

The CAB commits itself to:

a)provide to assessors and experts, designated by the ACCREDITATION BODY, information, documents and records necessary for the assessment and maintenance of accreditation, as well as present all required evidences, in the specific situations that occur;

b)know, agree and accept all the dispositions within the accreditation normative documents and Regulations, fully complying with their determinations, as well as with amendments and supplementary standards that the ACCREDITATION BODY establishes.

c)keep the original technical and organizational conditions on which the granting of accreditation was based;

d)perform, as accredited, only the activities defined in the granted Scope of Accreditation;

e)agree with surveillance reassessments on-site and other surveillance activities to be conducted by the ACCREDITATION BODY in order to check if the CAB continues to meet accreditation requirements and normative documents;

f)agree with the conduction of extraordinary assessments in the situations established in the procedures of the ACCREDITATION BODY or in other situations in which it is necessary to check if accreditation criteria continue to be met, even in the cases of suspension, withdrawal or end of the accreditation validity;

g)inform, in 5 (five) working days at most, to the ACCREDITATION BODY any changes regarding the conditions or operations that affect the compliance with requirements, regulation and other normative documents established by it, including its competence and its accreditation scope;

h)in the case of calibration or testing laboratory, be liable for any expenses relative to transport and insurance of equipment used in interlaboratory comparisons, as well as for the reimbursement, in case of damage, for the expenses incurred to replace these equipment;

i)always take the responsibility for its conformity assessment activities, including in the case of litigation, especially the judicial litigation;

j)in the case of certification and inspection bodies, execute and keep effective and inclusive insurance, or other proper mechanism, in the way, amount and terms accepted by the ACCREDITATION BODY, regarding any action (or omission) arising from the conformity assessment activities performed by the CAB;The ACCREDITATION BODY shall not be liable for any premium not paid;

k)keep updated register data such as corporate name, address, email address and telephones, technicians in charge and other data required in the accreditation application, informing the ACCREDITATION BODY;

l)do not induce, in any contractual or advertising documents, that the products, processes, systems or persons were approved by the ACCREDITATION BODY.

4.2 The CAB states to know and agree with:

a)making available, in the website of the ACCREDITATION BODY, all normative and guidance documents, as well as their revision, issues of new documents or cancelling of obsolete documents, containing regulations, criteria, administrative rules, requirements, specific procedures relative to the various accreditation modalities;

b)the issue of an Accreditation Certificate, with a specific expiry date, according to the accreditation modality and specific scope, by the ACCREDITATION BODY, shall be made only after the decision making for the granting of accreditation;

c)its right of appeal, without an effect of suspension, for the cases in which does not agree with any decision of the ACCREDITATION BODY regarding its particular accreditation;

d)the determinations of the ACCREDITATION BODY, in the event of discontinuity of the accreditation modality or default of any subparagraph of this statement;

e)the right, at any time, to request the reduction or extension of the scope of accreditation, its withdrawal, the total or partial suspension of the accreditation;

f)all the prices and methods of payment for the services provided by the ACCREDITATION BODY, relative to the accreditation granting and maintenance process steps, declaring to know that prices and methods are established in normative documents applicable to each accreditation modality;

g)the fact that the default in any of the obligations mentioned herein can result in the penalties:warning, partial or total suspension of the accreditation, scope reduction, withdrawal of the accreditation, as well as the filing of the initial granting or extension processes of accreditation;

h)the services rendered by the ACCREDITATION BODY are merely for the recognition of the technical competence of the CAB to perform them, being its sole responsibility the consequences occasionally arising from failure or inadequate performance of conformity assessment activities carried out by the CAB;

i)the determination of any communication directed to the ACCREDITATION BODY will only be valid if it is done in writing by a person previously and formally designated by the CAB or by its legal representative;

j)the contractual obligations with their clients are their sole responsibility and, for this reason, the CAB commits to uphold the ACCREDITATION BODY, also in court, whenever there is an attempt to make the ACCREDITATION BODY liable due to a relationship of the CAB with its clients or employees;

k)after the granting of the accreditation to the CAB, for each accreditation type, the publication of an abstract of this Commitment Statement in the Official Federal Gazette with a specific number, including the data of the CAB and ACCREDITATION BODY.

CLAUSE FIVE – GRANTING OF THE ACCREDITATION

The CAB agrees that the decision to grant or deny the accreditation is the sole duty of the ACCREDITATION BODY.

CLAUSE SIX – THE USE OF THE MARK

6.1 The CAB commits to accept and comply with the rules and procedures for the use of the accreditation symbol(s) of the ACCREDITATION BODY and with the rules and procedures for the use of combined marks of the ACCREDITATION BODY and International Accreditation Cooperations, established in normative documents.

6.2 If the previous item is not met, the accreditation may be immediately suspended.

CLAUSE SEVEN – THE NOTIFICATIONS AND DEADLINES

7.1 The ACCREDITATION BODY will send the notifications by email, fax, letter with return receipt or in person registering it, observing the following methods and deadlines:

7.1.1 Email with reading confirmation request or, in its absence, answer from the CAB acknowledging it;

7.1.2 Fax with confirmation of notification sending, provided it is sent between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.;

7.1.3 Letter with signed return receipt;

7.1.4 In person with the signature of the notification.

7.2 With the purpose of being effective in the provisions included in this clause, the CAB shall keep its register data updated, otherwise it will be subjected to the penalty of having its accreditation suspended until it updates its register data.

7.3 If the ACCREDITATION BODY tries to notify the CAB through three of the four methods mentioned in this clause without success, it may immediately suspend the accreditation.

CLAUSE EIGHT – THE SUSPENSION OR WITHDRAWAL OF THE ACCREDITATION

8.1 If the ACCREDITATION BODY finds the CAB is not meeting any of the obligations included herein, the CAB shall be notified about the opening of an administrative process, with a deadline of 15 (fifteen) days for its defense.

8.2 After the correction of the situation or circumstances that gave rise to the suspension of the accreditation and implementation of the respective corrective actions, the ACCREDITATION BODY shall decide on maintaining the suspension.

8.3 The CAB commits to respect and comply with the decisions of suspension or withdrawal of the accreditation, immediately stopping to render services of conformity assessment and to use accreditation marks.

8.4 If the CAB does not meet the decision of suspension of the accreditation, it will have the accreditation withdrawn.

8.5 The decision of suspension or withdrawal of the accreditation, when applicable, will be followed by the adoption of the appropriate judicial orders.

CLAUSE NINE – THE VENUE

The CAB agrees to elect the Federal Courts, in the Jurisdiction of the City of Rio de Janeiro, Court Division of the State of Rio de Janeiro, as the only venue jurisdiction to proceed and judge the matters arising from this Statement and that could not be administratively settled, waiving any other Venue, even if it is more privileged.

(Place) , of , 20.

------

(CAB´s legal representative, as mentioned in the Articles of Organization or Bylaws)

MOD-CGCRE-001 – Rev. 07 Appr. AUG/11 Pg. 01/07