Misleading ISO 9000 claims

Did you know you can`t be “ISO certified?” However, you can be certified to ISO 9000 standards. It`s a matter of semantics, but many of us have seen advertisements that say a company has achieved “ISO certification” — but it is not ISO that issues the certificate.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) — the group that developed the ISO 9000 standards for quality management and quality assurance — does not certify companies to its ISO 9000 standards. Certification to ISO standards is carried out independently of the organization.

ISO is now taking steps to educate businesses that ISO 9000 is not a product quality label, nor is ISO 14000 a label denoting environmentally friendly products. ISO wants to end misleading and false claims in advertising and other announcements. The organization has recently published booklets to help businesses end misleading advertising claims.

Although ISO is trying to help businesses make accurate claims, the consumer should be wary. Consumers should ask if a company is assessed and registered to ISO 9000 standards by an independent auditor.

“The objective [of ISO certification] is to give the organization`s management and its customers confidence that the organization is in control of the way it does things,” according to ISO. Neither ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 contain requirements for specific products, and certifications to these standards should not be presented as product guarantees.”

For more information contact ISO:

Phone +41 22 749 01 11

Fax +41 22 733 34 30

E-mail:[email protected]

ISO Online: http://www.iso.ch/