Notice from the National Certification and Accreditation Administration on Clarifying the Filing Requirements for Direct Carbon-Related Certification Rules
To all certification bodies:
To promote the construction of the quality certification system for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, guide and regulate the smooth implementation of direct carbon-related certification activities, according to the "Measures for the Administration of Certification Bodies" and the "Implementation Opinions of the State Administration for Market Regulation on Coordinated Use of Quality Certification Services for Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality" (Guo Shi Jian Certification Fa [2023] No. 89), the filing requirements for direct carbon-related certification rules are hereby notified as follows:
Direct carbon-related certification rules refer to the basic requirements and procedures for carbon-related certification of products, management systems, services, etc., based on greenhouse gas emission quantification. Those not yet formulated and issued by the National Certification and Accreditation Administration but developed or authorized by certification bodies with approved qualifications in the relevant certification fields apply to this notice.
Activities that only account for and verify emissions of organizations, products, projects, etc., based on relevant greenhouse gas quantification standards (such as greenhouse gas emission/reduction reports, carbon inventories, carbon accounting, carbon verification, etc.) are not within the scope of filing for direct carbon-related certification rules.
2. Principle Requirements
Certification bodies filing direct carbon-related certification rules shall comply with the relevant provisions of the National Certification and Accreditation Administration on certification rule filing management and meet the following principles:
(1) Shall not violate China's "1+N" policy on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, nor the basic guidelines for actively and prudently advancing carbon peaking and carbon neutrality;
(2) Shall not contravene the development needs of carbon reduction, carbon removal, carbon disclosure, and carbon neutrality in various industries, nor the requirements for low-carbon transformation of industrial and supply chains;
(3) Shall not conflict with or duplicate the basic specifications and certification rule requirements for product carbon labeling certification, carbon-related management system certification, and carbon-related service certification formulated by the National Certification and Accreditation Administration or jointly issued with relevant State Council departments.
(4) Shall not violate other relevant carbon-related laws, regulations, and standards.
3. Category Classification
Direct carbon-related certification rules are divided into three categories according to certification purposes and needs: carbon reduction/removal, carbon disclosure, and carbon neutrality.
(1) Carbon Reduction/Removal Category
Direct carbon-related certification rules used to prove that the greenhouse gas reduction/removal effect of products (projects, technologies) meets relevant standards or technical specification requirements.
2. Management System Certification
Direct carbon-related certification rules used to prove an organization's greenhouse gas reduction/removal capability, guide organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve carbon-related management performance.
Direct carbon-related certification rules used to prove that the greenhouse gas reduction/removal capability of services meets relevant standards or technical specification requirements.
(2) Carbon Disclosure Category
Direct carbon-related certification rules used to prove that the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, removals, and related information generated by products during their lifecycle and their consistency meet relevant standards or technical specification requirements, and can achieve continuous reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Management System Certification
Direct carbon-related certification rules used to prove that an organization’s management capability of greenhouse gas emissions, removals, and related information meets relevant standards or technical specification requirements.
Direct carbon-related certification rules used to prove that the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, removals, and related information generated by services during their lifecycle and their consistency meet relevant standards or technical specification requirements, and can achieve continuous reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
(3) Carbon Neutrality Category
Direct carbon-related certification rules used to prove that the total greenhouse gas emissions generated by products within a certain period are zero or achieve net zero emissions.
2. Management System Certification
Direct carbon-related certification rules used to prove that organizations (activities) have the capability to maintain total greenhouse gas emissions at zero or achieve net zero emissions within a certain period.
Direct carbon-related certification rules used to prove that services have total greenhouse gas emissions of zero or achieve net zero emissions within a certain period.
Direct carbon-related certification rules shall at least include the following content:
2. Technical specifications, mandatory requirements of technical specifications, or standards used as the basis for certification;
3. Conditions and competency requirements for certification personnel;
4. Certification modes (when applicable);
5. Data quality requirements (including but not limited to selection of background databases, principles for data selection, and related quality requirements);
6. Quantification methods for greenhouse gases in specific fields;
7. Certification implementation procedures (including but not limited to application and review, program planning, on-site inspection/audit/review, certification re-examination/decision, etc.);
8. Post-certification supervision and recertification procedures;
9. Requirements for certification certificates and certification marks;
10. Conditions for changes in the status of certification certificates.
(2) Special requirements for each category
1. Carbon reduction/removal category should include a description of the scientifically reasonable emission reduction baseline established for the certification object, as well as requirements to ensure the conformity of emission reduction effects.
2. Carbon disclosure category should include normative guidance for enterprises to establish the capability to ensure that disclosed information continuously complies with relevant standards or technical specifications, and management measures to achieve continuous reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Carbon neutrality category should include adherence to the principle of primarily autonomous carbon reduction strategies to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and then offset unavoidable emissions through carbon offsetting.
1. The names of direct carbon-related certification rules submitted for filing shall not contain words such as "approval", "inventory", "accounting", "verification", "certification", "validation", "label", "report", etc., and shall not be identical or similar to the names of direct carbon-related certification rules uniformly promoted by the state.
2. The selection of certification basis should be reasonable, appropriate, and meet the certification characteristics requirements of specific field filing certification rules. Certification bodies are encouraged to prioritize international standards, national standards, and industry standards as the basis for certification. It is not allowed to use only domestic or international related emission reduction mechanisms, such as China Certified Emission Reduction (CCER), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Gold Standard (GS), etc., as the basis for conducting direct carbon-related certification activities.
3. The selection of background databases or emission factors should be fair, scientific, and conform to the actual industrial development situation in China. Certification bodies are encouraged to prioritize local databases or real enterprise data to carry out direct carbon-related certification activities.
All certification bodies shall strictly follow the requirements of this notice and carry out the filing of direct carbon-related certification rules through the unified reporting platform for certification and accreditation business information (http://report.cnca.cn/irj/portal). For certification rules that have already been filed, self-inspection should be conducted seriously. Certification rules that do not meet the requirements shall be canceled on the unified reporting platform before April 30, 2024, and related issued certification certificates shall be canceled or revoked. If certification rules that do not meet the requirements or related certification certificates are not canceled or handled by the deadline, the National Certification and Accreditation Administration will deal with the relevant certification bodies or certificates in accordance with relevant regulations.
National Certification and Accreditation Administration
April 2, 2024
