Overview
EN ISO/IEC 17067:2013 - Conformity assessment - Fundamentals of product certification and guidelines for product certification schemes - describes the fundamentals of product certification and provides practical guidance for understanding, developing, operating and maintaining product, process and service certification schemes. The document explains the concept of third‑party attestation (product certification) and the role of certification scheme owners and product certification bodies in delivering credible conformity assessment.
Key Topics
- Concept and objectives of product certification: third‑party assessment and impartial attestation that specified requirements have been met; aims to give confidence to consumers, regulators and other stakeholders.
- Scope and terminology: definitions of certification system, certification scheme and scheme owner; alignment with ISO/IEC 17000 and ISO/IEC 17065.
- Certification scheme structure: guidance on scheme content, documentation and the relationship between a certification scheme and the certification system used to operate it.
- Functions and assessment techniques: common assessment methods used as a basis for certification, including product testing, inspection and auditing.
- Types of schemes: provisions and explicit recognition for schemes such as type and batch certification.
- Scheme development, operation and maintenance: recommendations for scheme design, implementation, ongoing management, improvement and record keeping.
- Guidance style: the standard provides recommendations (“should”), permissions (“may”) and options (“can”) and is intended as guidance rather than prescriptive requirements.
Applications
EN ISO/IEC 17067:2013 is practical for:
- Certification scheme owners (product certification bodies, government/regulators, industry associations, NGOs, purchasing agencies, consumer organizations) designing or revising schemes.
- Product certification bodies that implement schemes and need to align schemes with ISO/IEC 17065 requirements.
- Suppliers and manufacturers seeking to understand how third‑party product certification is structured and what to expect during assessment (testing, inspection, auditing).
- Regulators and procurement bodies that rely on certification schemes to support market surveillance, safety, interoperability and trade facilitation.
Using EN ISO/IEC 17067 helps improve market confidence, support trade and standardize how certification schemes are documented, managed and maintained.
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 17065:2012 - Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services (complementary, specifies certification body requirements).
- ISO/IEC 17000 - Vocabulary and general principles for conformity assessment.
Keywords: EN ISO/IEC 17067:2013, product certification, conformity assessment, certification schemes, scheme owner, ISO/IEC 17065, third‑party attestation, product testing, inspection, auditing.
