Maintaining the highest standards of impartiality in all of its certification operations is a top priority for AGFOCERT. This statement outlines our strict guidelines and protocols to guarantee that our certification process is impartial, fair, and free from financial, commercial, or other pressures.

  • AGFOCERT's senior management is committed to maintaining impartiality in our certification efforts. This dedication is exemplified by a clear and easily available policy statement on our website.
  • We maintain a complete risk analysis on a regular basis in order to identify and neutralize any potential threats to our impartiality.
  • AGFOCERT has a fair pricing policy that is based on the information provided throughout the application process for all clients and producers.
  • AGFOCERT does not engage in any operations relating to the design, manufacturing, installation, distribution, or technical support of certified items as a separate legal organization. We firmly segregate certification efforts from consultancy services to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.
  • AGFOCERT does not provide consulting services to its clients, particularly in the fields of management system review and internal auditing. This applies to certifying bodies in both the corporate and public sectors.
  • There is no shared property, management, resources, finance, or contracts between AGFOCERT and any management system consultancy businesses.
  • We confine our services to technical control, certification, and training, with no trading or business activity. We do an annual review of any impartiality issues associated with our training operations.
  • AGFOCERT is independent of market cooperatives, enterprises, and consulting firms. Independence is crucial to our certification services' impartiality. Joint marketing and consulting are against our philosophy. AGFOCERT never claims that partnering with certain consulting firms speeds up or improves certification. Rigorous standards and criteria determine certification, decisions. This guarantees our clients impartial appraisals without commercial bias or conflicts of interest. In all certification processes, AGFOCERT ensures the highest professional and ethical standards by remaining independent.
  • AGFOCERT assessors, and those in charge of technical review and certification decisions are not permitted to give further services to clients they have assessed for three years after the assessment. Furthermore, they are not permitted to provide assessment services to any clients with whom they have had a working or commercial relationship in the preceding two years. Assessors and people responsible for technical reviews and certification decisions are obliged to sign impartiality agreements annually and for each assessment assignment they do to ensure compliance with these principles.
  • AGFOCERT has processes in place for internal and external people to report conflicts of interest, with a focus on transparency and responsibility. We identify and manage impartiality risks, taking the required steps to remove or reduce them.
  • Risks to impartiality are assessed by taking into account a variety of criteria such as the company's partnership status and the internal and external situations of employees. Risk evaluations are reviewed as soon as the specified status changes.
  • AGFOCERT treats all accredited laboratories, including AGFOLAB, equally and does not require clients to employ specific laboratory services.
  • To ensure neutrality, AGFOCERT and AGFOLAB have separate management boards, with a shared quality department coordinating between the two departments. Employees that perform evaluation duties do not perform analysis jobs, resulting in a clear operational separation.
  • Stakeholder input is actively sought and considered, particularly in ASC certifications. Other certification operations include AGFOCERT evaluating and potentially acting on input from all relevant parties.
  • Accreditation bodies and scheme owners assess AGFOCERT's certification processes and impartiality policies on a regular basis. This oversight guarantees that we conform to international standards and that we remain unbiased in all certification processes.
  • To maintain impartiality, the committee is where all important parties' opinions and rules (public opinion, customers, academics, government institutions) are considered and decided, independent of the certification process.
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