What laws and regulations are violated by using expired or invalid ISO certification certificates?

Release Date:

2021-10-08 14:27

Source:

1. Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China

Article 14: The state promotes the enterprise quality system certification system based on internationally accepted quality management standards. Enterprises may voluntarily apply to certification bodies recognized by the State Council's product quality supervision department or authorized by the State Council's product quality supervision department for enterprise quality system certification. Upon passing certification, the certification body shall issue an enterprise quality system certification certificate.

The state promotes the product quality certification system by referring to internationally advanced product standards and technical requirements. Enterprises may voluntarily apply to certification bodies recognized by the State Council's product quality supervision department or authorized by the State Council's product quality supervision department for product quality certification. Upon passing certification, the certification body shall issue a product quality certification certificate and permit the enterprise to use the product quality certification mark on the product or its packaging.

Article 53: Those who forge the origin of products, forge or misuse others' factory names or addresses, forge or misuse certification marks or other quality marks shall be ordered to make corrections, have the illegally produced or sold products confiscated, and be fined an amount not exceeding the value of the illegally produced or sold products; if there is illegal income, it shall be confiscated; in serious cases, the business license shall be revoked.

Article 59: Those who make false claims about product quality in advertisements, deceiving and misleading consumers, shall be held legally responsible in accordance with the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.

2. "Measures for the Administration of Certification Certificates and Certification Marks"

The "Measures for the Administration of Certification Certificates and Certification Marks" was reviewed and approved by the State Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on April 30, 2004, and is hereby promulgated, effective from August 1, 2004.

Article 4: The National Certification and Accreditation Administration Commission (hereinafter referred to as the National Certification Commission) is legally responsible for the management, supervision, and comprehensive coordination of certification certificates and certification marks.

Local quality and technical supervision departments and local entry-exit inspection and quarantine institutions (hereinafter collectively referred to as local certification supervision departments) are responsible for the supervision and inspection of certification certificates and certification marks within their respective jurisdictions according to their duties.

Article 5: It is prohibited to forge, misuse, transfer, or illegally trade certification certificates and certification marks.

Article 10: Organizations that have obtained certification shall correctly use certification certificates and related information in advertisements, promotions, and other activities. When there are significant changes in certified products, services, or management systems, the certified organizations and individuals shall apply to the certification body for changes. If changes are not made or if the certification body finds non-compliance with certification requirements upon investigation, the certification certificate shall not continue to be used.

Article 11: Certification bodies shall establish a certification certificate management system, effectively track and investigate the use of certification certificates by certified organizations and individuals, suspend usage or revoke certification certificates if certification requirements are not met, and make such actions public; revoked or canceled certification certificates shall be recovered; if recovery is not possible, it shall be made public.

Article 12: It is prohibited to use product certification certificates and related words or symbols to mislead the public into believing that their services or management systems are certified; it is prohibited to use service certification certificates and related words or symbols to mislead the public into believing that their products or management systems are certified; it is prohibited to use management system certification certificates and related words or symbols to mislead the public into believing that their products or services are certified.

Article 18: Certification bodies shall establish a certification mark management system, clarify the rights and obligations of certification mark users, effectively track and investigate the use of certification marks by certified organizations, and promptly decide to suspend or stop the use of certification marks if the certified products, services, or management systems do not meet certification requirements, and make such decisions public.

Article 19: Organizations that have obtained product certification shall correctly use the product certification mark in advertisements, product introductions, and other promotional materials. They may mark the product certification mark on certified products and their packaging but shall not use the product certification mark to mislead the public into believing that their services or management systems are certified.

Article 20: Organizations that have obtained service certification shall correctly use the service certification mark in advertisements and related promotions. They may display the service certification mark in the area where the service certification is obtained but shall not use the service certification mark to mislead the public into believing that their products or management systems are certified.

Article 21: Organizations that have obtained management system certification shall correctly use the management system certification mark in advertisements and related promotions. They shall not mark the management system certification mark on products; only when indicating that the certified organization has passed the relevant management system certification may the management system certification mark be marked on the product packaging.

Article 22: The National Certification Commission organizes local certification supervision departments to supervise and inspect the use of certification certificates and certification marks, and investigate and deal with illegal acts such as forging, misusing, transferring, and illegally trading certification certificates and certification marks according to law.

Article 27: Violations of Article 12 of these Measures involving confusing the use of certification certificates and certification marks shall be ordered by local certification supervision departments to make corrections within a time limit; failure to correct within the time limit shall be fined up to 20,000 yuan.

If a product is not certified but uses false words in its product, packaging, advertisements, or other promotions to indicate certification, the local certification supervision department shall punish it as forging or misusing certification marks and illegal acts.

Article 28: Violations of these Measures involving forging or misusing certification certificates shall be ordered by local certification supervision departments to make corrections and fined 30,000 yuan.

Article 29: Violations of these Measures involving illegal trading or transferring of certification certificates shall be ordered by local certification supervision departments to make corrections and fined 30,000 yuan; certification bodies selling or transferring certification certificates to uncertified clients shall be punished according to Article 62 of the regulations.

Therefore, when ISO certification certificates are not supervised or have expired without obtaining a new certificate, units should not use them (including website promotion, bidding, marking on product packaging, etc.) to avoid violating laws and regulations and causing unnecessary trouble.

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