For Immediate Release

Geneva, Switzerland...In a joint communiqué issued July 27, 2003, the chairs of the ISO Technical Committee (TC) responsible for the ISO 9000 standards and two key conformity assessment groups strongly reaffirmed the December 15, 2003, deadline for transitioning to ISO 9001:2000. Signed by the Chairs of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the ISO Policy Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO) as well as the Chair of the ISO/TC 176, the joint communiqué makes clear that accreditation bodies that are IAF members will not permit registrars to maintain 1994 edition certificates after the December 15, 2003, deadline. "After [December 15, 2003] the only valid accredited certificates will be those that state conformity to the requirements of this new edition of ISO 9001, that is, to the requirements of ISO 9001:2000S." By signing the communiqué, the Chairs of both ISO/TC 176 and ISO/CASCO indicated their support for this transition deadline.

"The goal of the communiqué is to dispel any notion that there is leeway on the transition deadline," remarked Jack West, Chair of the US Technical Advisory Group to ISO/TC. "If the ISO 9000 user community needed a reminder that there is little time left before 1994 certificates will cease to be recognized by almost all accreditation bodies, and by the customers who expect their suppliers to have accredited certificates, this is the reminder.

For more information, contact:

Communications Chair
US Standards Group on QEDS
1-877-436-6769
Robin@theinformedoutlook.com