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ISO/PAS 28003 gives requirements for auditing and certification of supply chain security management systems

2006-10-26

The latest in ISO's series of documents for supply chain security management systems provides the requirements for ensuring that the bodies which carry out certification of these systems perform their work competently and reliably.

The aim is to give confidence to private sector and governmental customers who require suppliers like air, sea, road and rail transporters to implement security management systems and to have them independently audited and certified.

The new ISO publicly available specification ISO/PAS 28003:2006, Security management systems for the supply chain – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of supply chain security management systems, is a companion document to ISO/PAS 28000:2005, Specification for security management systems for the supply chain.

Certification of conformity to ISO/PAS 28000:2005 is not a requirement of the document. However, organizations may choose certification, or it may be required by their private or public customers, because c ertification provides independent verification that the supply chain security management system of the organization conforms to specified requirements, is capable of consistently achieving its stated policy and objectives and is implemented effectively.

ISO/PAS 28003:2006, which contains both principles and requirements

• provides harmonized guidance for the accreditation (official approval) of certification bodies as competent to perform certification to ISO/PAS 28000 (or to similar requirements);
• defines the rules applicable for the audit and certification of supply chain security management systems conforming to the ISO/PAS 28000 requirements (or similar requirements).

In addition, by providing customers with information about the certification process, it may increase their confidence in the supplier, the certificate and the certification body – with benefits to supply chains and international trade.

ISO/PAS 28003:2006, Security management systems for the supply chain – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of supply chain security management systems costs 138 Swiss francs and is available from ISO national member institutes (see the complete list with contact details) and from the ISO Central Secretariat (see below). It was prepared by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 8, Ships and marine technology, in collaboration with the ISO Committee on conformity assessment (ISO/CASCO).

Note to editors:
An ISO/PAS (Publicly Available Specification) is one of several alternatives to fully fledged International Standards offered by ISO for cases where market needs dictate priority for swift development and publication. All Publicly Available Specifications are reviewed every three years to determine if the document should be reconfirmed as a PAS for another three-year period or whether it should be further developed to become an ISO International Standard.