Provides general requirements for bodies operating a system for third-party product certification (which may include a process or service) as a means of assurance that the system complies with specified Standards and other normative documents. This Standard is identical with and has been reproduced from ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996 (also published as the Handbook SAA/SNZ HB18.65:1998).

This Guide specifies general requirements that a third-party operating a product certification system shall meet if it is to be recognized as competent and reliable.In this Guide the term "certification body" is used to cover any body operating a product certification system. The word "product" is used in its widest sense and includes processes and services; the word "standard" is used to include other normative documents such as specifications or technical regulations.The certification system used by the certification body may include one or more of the following, which could be coupled with production surveillance or assessment and surveillance of the supplier's quality system or both, as described in ISO/IEC Guide 53:a) type testing or examination;b) testing or inspection of samples taken from the market or from supplier's stock or from a combination of both;c) testing or inspection of every product or of a particular product, whether new or already in use;d) batch testing or inspection;e) design appraisal.NOTE 1 ISO/IEC Guide 28 may be consulted for a model of one form of a third-party product certification system.

First published as AS/NZS 3843:1998.