Impartiality Committee

1. An Impartiality Committee has been constituted by the Board of Directors, which will act as an Impartiality and independent body with no single interest predominating, to assist in the formulation of policy matters relating to SCPL Certification Scheme and oversees implementation.

2. CEO identifies the availability of such experts and their CV's are reviewed by the board of Directors.CEO Upon the initial acceptance by the Board of Directors, issues the request letters to the probable members by giving the details of the Certification process and expectations from the committee members. Acceptance of the members is then obtained and the process of the appointment of the chairman is then planned in the 1st probable meeting.

3. The Committee comprises suitably qualified persons with technical expertise, representing various interests, in a balanced manner, who are nominated by the professional institutions, industry associations and users. The Impartiality Committee meets at least twice in a year and additionally, as and when required by the SCPL Board. The Impartiality Committee will at the request of SAGACI Certifications Pvt. Ltd. Board of Directors, consider and approve the expansion of the Committee by inclusion of additional members to represent the industry scope sectors for which accreditation is required from the accrediting bodies. The nomination of additional members shall ensure the balanced representation of various interests without any single interest to predominate. b) Access to all the information necessary to enable it to fulfil its functions (see also 5.2.2 and 5.3.2) In the event of any existing Committee member's resignation or inability to continue to undertake the functional responsibilities as per the terms representing the same scope sector and interests without disturbing the balance between various interests.

4. The SCPL Quality Manager attends the meeting in an ex official capacity but does not have the right to vote. The Impartiality Committee has constituted separate Experts Panels comprising experts in each panel specialising in their area of expertise to assist the Committee, as and when required, in their respective area of expertise.

5. The terms of reference of the Impartiality Committee, are set out below:

a) To formally approve the SCPL documented Quality System as embodied in its Policy, Procedures and Manuals.

b) To review and approve any proposed changes in the Rules and Regulations covering SCPL Accredited Quality System Certification Scheme.

c) to provide technical and general advice as and when required, by the Board of Directors, in all matters relating to the proper implementation of the certification scheme including the mode and frequency of assessments in compliance with the requirements.

d) To exercise an overview of continual financial viability of SCPL certification scheme and discuss the fee structure with the management in order to ensure that SCPL certification operations remain independent of any commercial pressures.

e) The Impartiality Committee would verify SCPL operating accounts and discuss financial resources if necessary, with the Chairman of SCPL who is a nonvoting member of the Impartiality Committee.

f) Review the developments in the quality management certification and related fields in India and abroad and to provide unsolicited advice to the Board of Directors with a view to ensuring Impartiality and competence in the application of SCPL certification services in various sectors of the industry.

g) To act as an Appellant Body and to nominate members with appropriate qualifications to constitute an Appeals Panel at the request of the Board of Directors, as and when an appeal is lodged against any decision of the SCPL Scheme Manager, in respect of the certification scheme.

h) To decide whether any advice rendered, unsolicited or otherwise, in respect of the content and implementation of the certification activities is considered binding on SCPL for adoption within its certification scheme.

i) To provide guidance for use of and meanings of the certificate, statements and logo.

j) To refer to the Accrediting Bodies any inconsistency observed in the implementation of SCPL Certification Scheme approved by it, after taking due note of the reasons provided by SCPL where any recommendations made by the Impartiality Committee are not accepted by SCPL.

k) Members of the Impartiality Committee and Appeals Panel will observe the confidentiality as per Section A13 of Policy Manual.

l) The term of appointment of each member will be for a period of 3 years from the date of the nomination which may be extended for a further period of one year. The nominating organization may re-nominate the existing member or nominate a new member after the maximum term of 4 years.

m) At least one third of the total number of the committee members are required to be present to constitute a quorum of holding a meeting. It shall be ensured that members constituting the minimum number required for quorum provide a balance of interests between the suppliers and the users.

n) The Impartiality Committee shall elect a Chairman out of its members by simple majority vote. The Chairman will hold office for a period of three year but may be re-elected for a further term of one year.

o) The Impartiality Committee will ensure that a quorum as per (l) above is present before proceeding with a meeting of the Committee. The minutes of the meeting shall be recorded and confirmed by the Chairman with regard to the accuracy and content before being circulated to the members for comments and approval at the next meeting.

p) To formally approve and accept the appointments of Senior Executives e.g. Scheme Manager. The above terms of reference and procedure for the nomination of the Impartiality Committee will not be amended or altered without prior reference to the accrediting bodies.

q) The Impartiality committee has the accessibility to all the relevant information as necessary to enable it to fulfill its function.

r) Impartiality Committee reviews the overall performance of the SCPL on annual basis to check – Internal Audit/ management review/ external audit/risk analysis/sampling of client files/ Auditor performance/ regional Performance basis, while doing this inputs are taken from all members on their past experiences with other certifying body audits if any. Also their experiences and inputs/ feedbacks of other similar committees. Members will be encouraged to collect the data from various other forums like FICCI/ASSOHAM/ACBI/QCI-NABCB-CAB Associations/JAS-ANZ-accredited CABs like - IAS/IOAS/NABCB/JAS-ANZ/UKAS accredited CABs meetings data etc.