The National Accreditation Board – Malta (NAB-MALTA)
strongly believes that
it is of utmost importance to maintain the trust that stakeholders
expect from accreditation. The NAB-MALTA adheres to the requirements of EN
ISO/IEC 17011: 2017
‘Conformity assessment - Requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting
conformity assessment bodies’ and Regulation (EC) 765/2008 that accreditation shall be undertaken impartially, and the
maintenance of impartiality is a key priority at all levels within the
NAB-MALTA.
The NAB-MALTA is
structured in such a manner as to safeguard impartiality from commercial,
financial and other pressures. As a public entity, it has no share ownership,
commercial or other interest in any conformity assessment body (CAB) and it
operates on a not-for-profit basis.
The Board and Management are committed to safeguard the
objectivity and impartiality of the NAB-MALTA’s activities. Accreditation is a
public authority activity and the
NAB-MALTA does not offer or provide any activities, or services, that
conformity assessment bodies (CABs) provide.
The NAB-MALTA does
not engage in any activities which could compromise its impartiality; it
does not provide consultancy to conformity assessment bodies, nor does it
undertake any conformity assessment activities itself or have links with bodies
providing consultancy to the conformity assessment sector, and it does not
promote the services of any such body. Any NAB-MALTA events are open to
all under the same conditions.
All NAB-MALTA accreditation schemes are administered in a
non-discriminatory manner and are open to CABs whose accreditation applications
fall within its defined scope of activities.
All personnel involved directly in the accreditation
process are required to be free from any undue pressures including commercial
or financial pressures which may impact on their ability to act impartially or
objectively. All personnel are required to declare conflicts of intertest. Accreditation decisions are made by
competent persons independent of the assessment of the CAB under review.
The NAB-MALTA evaluates potential threats to impartiality
on an on-going basis using a
number of mechanisms including internal audit, management review, risk
management processes and consultation with appropriate interested
parties. Where any such risks are identified, the NAB-MALTA puts appropriate
measures in place to eliminate or minimise them. These measures are monitored
for effectiveness.
In the event that customers or other stakeholder have concerns regarding the impartiality or objectivity of the NAB-MALTA, the NAB-MALTA has non-discriminatory procedures in place for handling complaints and appeals.
Date of Issue: 08/11/2019 Revision 0