ISO does not carry out certification

ISO is responsible for developing, maintaining and publishing the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families of standards but ISO does not itself audit or assess the management systems of organizations to verify that they have been implemented in conformity with the requirements of the standards.

ISO does not issue ISO 9001:2000 (or ISO 9001:2008) or ISO 14001:2004 certificates.

The auditing and certification of management systems is carried out independently of ISO by more than 2500 certification bodies active around the world. ISO has no authority to control their activities. The ISO 9001:2000 (and ISO 9001:2008) and ISO 14001:2004 certificates issued by certification bodies are issued under their own responsibility and not under ISO's name.

ISO itself does not carry out assessments or audits to check that its standards are being implemented by users in conformity with the requirements of the standards. Conformity assessment – as this process is known – is a matter between suppliers and their customers in the private sector, and of regulatory bodies when ISO standards have been incorporated into public legislation.

In addition, there exist many testing laboratories and certification bodies which offer independent (also known as "third party") conformity assessment services to provide confirmation that products (including hardware, software and processed materials), services or systems measure up to ISO standards.

Such organizations may perform these services under a mandate to a regulatory authority, or as a commercial activity, the aim of which is to create confidence between suppliers and their clients.

In some countries, the national standards institutes that make up ISO's membership carry out conformity assessment, either on behalf of their respective governments, or as a business operation. ISO itself has no authority to control conformity assessment activities, whether these are business activities by its members, or by other organizations.

However, ISO's Committee on conformity assessment, ISO/CASCO, develops standards and guidelines covering various aspects of conformity assessment activities and the organizations that perform them. The voluntary criteria contained in these standards and guides represent an international consensus on good practice. Their use contributes to the consistency of conformity assessment worldwide and so facilitates trade across borders.