Article 1. Preamble, Institution and Aim
- a) Preamble
– The global legislative and regulatory complexity that characterizes the existences of organizations and personnel active within them. This legislative and regulatory complexity is now an inescapable fact and has direct and evident repercussions on the business continuity of organizations and on the need to continuously update and qualify the competencies of the persons who, at various levels, work and are active within the same organizations. Business continuity is then closely linked to issues concerning the sustainability and social reputation of the organizations and personnel who work and are active within them.
– The regulatory and legislative complexity concerns management systems and models dealing with the most diverse issues: quality of organizations, quality in the management of environmental, workplace safety and data issues, quality and safety and sustainability of products, of processes and of services, quality and effective qualification of the competencies of persons; the legislative and regulatory complexity has contractual value and concerns the need to guarantee the goods and merchandise circulating locally and worldwide.
– The regulatory and legislative complexity, mandatory and voluntary, requires that compliance by organizations and personnel active within them is guaranteed, with respect to the requirements and elements of application that the rules introduce in the functioning of the same.
– The regulatory and legislative complexity briefly outlined above, is substantiated today with rules and regulations generated at a global level and which are then applied at a local level by organizations or personnel active within them. This is regardless of sector, size, country of the organizations, and regardless of whether they are of a “for profit” or “non-profit” type.
The compliance that is required by markets and consumers is recognized and known globally as Regulatory Compliance.
- b) Institution
– The three accredited Certification and Inspection Bodies, signatories of the Letter of Intent of 15 July 2019 (Annex 1 Letter of Intent Network ICN) and of these Regulations, and the other related entities referring to the three subjects performing training activities in the Regulatory Compliance sector (Q-AID Academy srl of Milan (ITA) and the Educational and training Division of IAS REGISTER AG), have intended to proceed with the establishment of the network defined as International Compliance Network (ICN acronym, mark and logo), as basic structure for the subsequent establishment of an international association, based in Switzerland, to be held by 31.12.2020 with the same name, mark and logo.
– The network established (and the subsequent Association establishment referred to above) International Compliance Network therefore places the qualification of the activities carried out by international legal entities that operate as Competent Bodies and/or as Third Party Bodies within the Regulatory Compliance sector, with particular reference to the performance of these activities according to the requirements defined by the international standard ISO/IEC 17011:2017 Conformity assessment – Requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies and the EU Regulation 765/2008 laying down rules on accreditation and market surveillance as regards the marketing of products and repealing regulation (EEC) no. 339/93 and/or other national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations recognized and accepted internationally in relation to accreditation and qualification activities.
The importance of the value of the services performed by a Competent Body and by a Third Party Body – in reference to the activities of assessment, inspection, laboratory, and educational and training – which they provide with respect to the management of regulated Compliance issues, in order to guarantee economical, high quality benefits and to the market in general, to their customers and to interested parties (Stakeholders) has its basis in:
- the commitment to creating a representative, strong and credible international system that truly represents a network of qualified and/or accredited Competent Body and Third-Party services linked to the general and specific issues of regulated Compliance;
- bringing the worlds of standardization, qualification, certification and accreditation and Compliance certification closer together, for the benefit of the economic and social community and all Stakeholders;
- the commitment to raising the awareness of the market and of all the Stakeholders involved in these Compliance management processes – at the various levels and in the different methods and responsibilities – of the advantages of the qualified and/or accredited activities related to Assessment, Inspection, Laboratory and compliance educational and training activities;
- the commitment to increasing the areas, schemes and specifications of evaluation, certification, inspection, laboratory analysis and training, qualified and/or accredited according to the national and international standards required by the market and its customers;
- the continuous commitment to undertaking and maintaining an open and continual dialogue with the community and players operating in the sector of regulated compliance, with reference to the standardization, qualification and accreditation of the activities of the Competent Bodies and Third-Party Bodies
- c) Aim
c1) ICN’s aim is to establish an open register that brings together international legal entities operating in the sectors of:
- certification of management systems, for products/processes/services, according to international standards respectively:
- ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems – part 1;
- ISO/IEC 17065:2012 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services;
- ISO/IEC 17024: 2012 Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons;
and/or other national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations recognized and accepted internationally in relation to the certification of other management systems, products/processes/services and the competencies of persons.
- inspection according to the international standard ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection and/or other national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations recognized and accepted internationally in relation to the product/process/service inspection activities;
- laboratory activities carried out according to the international standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories and/or other national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations recognized and accepted internationally in relation to Laboratory activities;
- of education and training activities according to the international standard ISO 21001:2018 Educational Organizations – Management systems for educational organizations – Requirements with guidance for use and/or other national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations recognized and accepted internationally in relation to Educational and Training activities in the field of Regulatory Compliance.
c2) The Register, according to the subdivision made above, will be divided into the following four (4) sections:
- Assessment section, comprises accredited and/or qualified international legal entities, which operate:
- according to ISO/IEC 17021-1: 2015 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems – part 1 and/or other national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations recognized and accepted internationally in relation to certification of other management systems;
- according to ISO/IEC 17065:2012 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services and/or other national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations recognized and accepted internationally in relation to the certification of products, processes and services;
- according to ISO/IEC 17024:2012 Conformity Assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons and/or other national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations recognized and accepted internationally regarding the certification of the competencies of persons.
- Inspection section, comprises accredited and/or qualified international legal entities, operating according to ISO/IEC 17020: 2012 Conformity assessment – Requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection and/or other national and/or international regulations and/or sectorial recognized and accepted internationally in relation to the inspection of products, processes and services;
- Laboratory section, comprises accredited and/or qualified international legal entities operating according to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories and/or other recognized national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations and internationally accepted for laboratory activities;
- Educational and Training section, comprises accredited and/or qualified international legal entities, operating according to ISO 21001:2018 Educational organizations – Management systems for educational organizations – Requirements with guidance for use and/or other national and/or international and/or sectoral regulations, recognized and accepted internationally, for educational and training activities.
c3) The importance of the value of the services performed by a Competent Body and by a Third Party Body – in reference to the activities of assessment, inspection, laboratory, and educational and training – which they provide with respect to the management of regulated Compliance issues, in order to guarantee economic benefits and high quality to the market in general, to their customers and to Interested Parties (Stakeholders) has its basis in:
- the commitment to creating a representative, strong and credible international system that truly represents a network of qualified and/or accredited Competent Body and Third-Party services linked to the general and specific issues of regulated Compliance;
- bringing the worlds of standardization, qualification, certification and accreditation closer together, for the benefit of the economic and social community and all Stakeholders;
- the commitment to raising awareness of the market and of all the Stakeholders involved – at the various levels and in the different methods and responsibilities – in these Compliance management processes, of the advantages of the qualified and/or accredited activities referring to the Assessment, Inspection, Laboratory and the compliance educational and training activities;
- the commitment to increasing the spheres, schemes and specifications of evaluation, certification, inspection, laboratory analysis and training, qualified and/or accredited according to the national and international standards required by the market and its customers;
- the continuous commitment to undertaking and maintaining an open and continual dialogue with the community and the players active within the Regulated Compliance sector, with reference to the standardization, qualification and accreditation of the activities of Competent Bodies and Third-Party Bodies.
Article 2. Board of Directors
– The Board of Directors, in this first phase of the network’s operation, is the Management Body of the same. It is made up of three (3) members, determined and appointed by the three (3) Founding Members, from among whom the President is determined, charged with the task of coordinating and recording the work of the network as indicated in the articles of these Regulations.
– In this phase, the Board of Directors is responsible for managing the network’s activities as indicated in art.1 and in the following articles of these Regulations, in order to:
- Oversee the correct conduct of the network’s activities by the Founding Members;
- Preparation of the Articles of Association and the Regulations of the proposed International Compliance Network Association, by 31.12.2020, in the terms indicated by these Regulations and research activities of potential members on an international level;
- Expulsion for reasons of professional ethics and conduct and for verified unfitness of the Founding Members;
- Any eventual actions to safeguard the integrity, professionalism and reputation of the Founding Members in regard to third parties.
– Following the establishment of the Association, this present Board of Directors will lapse and the new one will be made up and will be charged with the tasks established by its official Statute and Regulations.
Article 3. ICN Network Membership Requirements
- The three Founding Members are Certification Bodies accredited and qualified according to various schemes and sectors pursuant to ISO 17021, ISO 17065, ISO 17024 and ISO 17020 in the versions and revisions in force and/or qualified and recognized pursuant to EU Regulation 765/2008 (Annex 2 Accreditation and qualifications of Founding Members). They are therefore periodically subjected to accreditation and surveillance procedures according to the international standards in force. The Founding Members will belong by right as Members of the proposed Association.
- The criteria to which the Board of Directors of the network are to adhere for the proposed ICN association are indicated below.
- The proposed Association will be under Swiss law, with registered office in the Swiss Confederation and will consist of
- Founding Members (the three [3] undersigned members of the Letter of Intent dated 07/15/2019 as per Annex 1 of this document);
- Qualified members.
- Qualified Members shall be understood as legal entities of any country meeting the general and/or technical requirements set out below.
- Interested and applicant legal entities must submit their membership application exclusively online, by filling in the appropriate form – available on the site from the registration of the proposed Association – and by submitting the following documents:
- Certificate and Register of Commerce or official document of recognition of the entity, according to the publications of the applicant legal entity’s home country.
- For Assessment, Inspection and Laboratory activities, the Type-approval Certificate relating to at least one sector of activity issued by an Accreditation Body recognized under the IAF or ILAC or in the context of EU Regulation 765/2008 or another recognized International Accreditation Body.
– For training activities, a Type-approval Certificate according to ISO 21001:2018 and/or according to ISO 9001:2015 sector IAF 37 and/or official accreditations or recognitions from the Member’s country.
– Declaration of responsibility and/or truthfulness and/or deed of notoriety confirming the absence of criminal convictions, concerning subjects with responsibility for the legal entity, relating to matters of relevance for the purposes of Regulatory Compliance with regard to the violation of the relevant Country’s laws.
– Declaration of responsibility and/or truthfulness and/or deed of notoriety with reference to NOT performing consultancy activities relating to assessment, inspection, laboratory and training activities
– Declaration of acceptance of the ICN Code of Conduct currently under formation. In this phase, as the ICN network Code of Conduct, the respective Codes of Professional Ethics and Conduct of the three Founding Members apply.
- The Board of Directors of the proposed ICN Association will have, amongst its other obligations, responsibility for analysing evidence of the relevant requisites, following the procedure described in the following point, and for ruling as to the acceptance or rejection of new Member applicant requests.
- Each new Qualified Member in the relevant section must pay the membership fee to the Association upon confirmation of positive acceptance of the admission request and before being enrolled in the Register, in the relevant section.
- Having approved the admission, the Board of Directors, via the Secretariat, will communicate it to the legal entity whose membership application has been accepted with the sending of the certificate, registration number and documentation relating to the mark and its use. – logo and standard Certificate template etc., as per article 4 below.
- In this first phase of operation of the ICN network, the requirements described in Article 4 regarding the use of the mark, logo and statements and certificates apply to the Founding Members.
- The initial membership fee paid by the Founding Members is CHF 1000.00 (one thousand/00).
- The annual revalidation (validation) fee for Founding Members is fixed at CHF 1000.00 (one thousand/00) per year.
- The fees relating to the ICN proposed Association will be set and defined in the Articles of Association, for both Founding and Qualified Members.
- For Founding Members, the initial fees are to be paid by 31 January 2020.
- With reference to the Qualified Members of the proposed association, the Articles of Association and the Regulations must indicate that:
- the initial registration and re-validation (validation) fees may be changed by 30.12 of each year upon deliberation by the Steering Committee;
- if initial registration comes after 30/06, the initial annual fee will be considered reduced to 50% of the full fee;
- renewal fee (validation) amounts must be paid annually by 31/01 of each year;
- Membership renewal (validation) will be carried out annually by the Board of Directors and the process of re-validation after the first registration with validity in the calendar year must follow the procedure below:
- first registration revalidation;
- second registration revalidation;
- Membership renewal;
- first registration revalidation… and so on in the following years.
- As part of the revalidation (validation) process, the same requisites as for the first registration must be verified and references obtained, regarding the activities carried out in the calendar year, confirming the activities carried out by each member.
Article 4. Use of the ICN Mark, ICN Logo and ICN Certification
4a) Mark and Logo
- The International Compliance Network (ICN) mark and logo is a registered trademark of the Founding Members.
- The ICN mark and logo can and may be used, as a secondary mark and/or logo, on all the legal and management documentation of Members.
- The only stability limitation is:
- a) that the ICN mark and/or logo CANNOT IN ANY WAY BE USED, EVEN AS A SECOND MARK, on the official and recognized Certifications or Certificates issued by each Member and related to the accredited and/or qualified schemes of the same;
- b) the ICN mark and/or logo CANNOT BE USED IN ANY WAY, EVEN AS A SECOND MARK, on the official and recognized certifications or certificates issued by each Member in relation to the NON-ACCREDITED AND/OR QUALIFIED schemes of the same as well.
4b) Certificates and Certifications
- As part of the activities relating to the Assessment section, in addition to the Type-Approval Certification relating to the accredited or non-accredited scheme or area, the Member also must issue the ICN standard Certification a) Management Systems Assessment; b) Product, Process, Service Assessment; c) Personnel Competence Assessment. This Certification has only the value of highlighting the Member’s affiliation to the network and of giving reasonable publicity. This Certification cannot include any reference to marks or logos of Accreditation Bodies or qualification. In Annex 3 we have the standard Certifications for the Assessment section relating to management systems, products/processes/services and personnel competencies, with indication of the colours, related Pantone colours and minimum dimensions.
- As part of the Inspection activities, the Member issues their reports on their own forms, inserting the ICN Logo as a secondary mark, with the relevant colours and minimum dimensions, so as not to conflict with the member’s mark and logo and the marks or logos of any Member certifications or qualifications. Before their adoption, the conditions must be authorized by the Board of Directors.
- Within the scope of Laboratory activities, the Member issues their own Certificates and/or Analysis Reports on their own forms, inserting the ICN Logo as a secondary mark, with the relevant colours and minimum dimensions, so as not to conflict with the member’s mark and logo and the marks or logos of any of the Member’s certifications or qualifications. Before their adoption, the conditions must be authorized by the Board of Directors.
- Within the scope of the Training activities, the Member issues their own Certificates and/or Analysis Reports on their own forms, inserting the ICN Logo as a secondary mark, with the relevant colours and minimum dimensions, so as not to conflict with the member’s mark and logo and the marks or logos of any of the Member’s certifications or qualifications. Before their adoption, the conditions must be authorized by the Board of Directors.
Article 5. Validity, activities and opportunities and exclusions
5a) Validity
- Registration to the network and to the proposed Association and the subsequent validation of the registration have an annual duration and will be automatically renewed for the same period with calendar year validity, unless cancelled by the member in writing and in any case according to what is indicated in the proposed Association’s Articles of Association.
5b) Activities and Opportunities
- Registration and subsequent validations allow and will allow the Member to be registered in the relevant section of the ICN Register, with an indication of their certifications and/or qualifications.
- Registration and subsequent validations allow and will allow the Member to use any ICN-type procedures relating to:
- qualification respectively of auditors (assessment section), inspectors (inspection section), laboratory technicians (for the Laboratory section) and trainers (for the Training section);
- planning of audit, inspection, laboratory and training activities;
- contractual activities.
- The standard procedures proposed by the network do not constitute and shall not constitute a compulsory element for the Member, but only an elective one; in any case, these same procedures must and shall always have to be assessed and recognized as valid by the accreditation and qualification bodies to which each Member is subject in their own or in other countries.
- This Board of Directors and that of the proposed Association, following the acceptance and use of the standard procedures that will have been accepted and recognized by the accreditation and qualification bodies, shall keep updated on the ICN website icn-network.org, in the area reserved for Members, the List of Auditors, Inspectors, Laboratory Technicians and Trainers, with an indication of the specializations of each, available to all Members, eligible Authorities and Bodies, and to Stakeholders in general.
5c) Exclusions
- The current founding entities and the applicant and/or member entities of the proposed association acknowledge and are to acknowledge that confirmation of disparity between what was declared at the time of the registration application and subsequently in the revalidation (validation) procedures, and what is found instead, except for differing actions, shall result in removal from the network and from the proposed Association, immediate termination of any existing relationship, deletion from the Register as well as the preclusion of use of the Association’s mark and logo, referred to in art.4, and of establishing any future relationship with the network and the proposed Association.
- In the case of situations with specific legal significance concerning the Network, with its Founding Members, or subsequently the proposed Association, with its Founding and Qualified Members, through the action delegated by the Founding Members to the Board of Directors, the right is reserved to proceed in all necessary jurisdictions, in the forms permitted by Swiss and international law, to safeguard the integrity and reputation of the network, of the proposed Association and its members.
Article 6. Disputes and jurisdiction
- For any dispute or for any actions for safeguarding the network and the Founding Members, refer to the Swiss Code of Obligations.
For the Court of Jurisdiction, reference is made to the Court of Lugano (Switzerland).