Schemes Under Development

Third party management systems certification is a frequently specified requirement to operate in the global market place. It can demonstrate compliance to a standard, a code of practice or regulatory requirements. It can also deliver internal business improvement. Certified organizations must demonstrate and provide evidence that they are seeking and implementing improvement. Failure to do so can be a risk to certification maintenance. Being certified is not in itself a regulatory requirement however most certification standards require an organization to have in place a process for understanding regulatory requirements.

Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS) operates an accreditation scheme for management system certification in the scopes of ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 14001 certification. Accredited certification indisputably demonstrates compliance to a management system standard, enables government, businesses, consumers and others to have confidence in certifications provided by an accredited certification body. An accredited management system certification is valuable for the following reasons:

• De-risking an organizations procurement by taking the guesswork out of choosing a certification body by giving confidence that the service offered closely meets regulatory and customer requirements; This places an obligation upon any organization with certification to review, understand and demonstrate full compliance.
• Winning new business particularly since the use of accredited conformity assessment services is increasingly a stipulation of specifiers in both the public and private sector;
• Gaining access to overseas markets since certificates issued by bodies that are accredited by an IAF MLA signatory are recognized and accepted throughout the world;
• Helping to identify best practice since the certification body is required to have appropriate knowledge of your business sector;
• Controlling costs with the help of knowledge transfer since accredited certification bodies can be a good source of impartial advice;
• Offering market differentiation and leadership by showing to others credible evidence of good practice;
• Demonstrating due diligence in the event of legal action;
• Reducing paperwork and increase efficiency by reducing the necessity to re-audit your business

KENAS is in the process of extending scope for the management system certification accreditation scheme to include the following scopes:

An ISMS is a framework of policies and procedures that includes all legal, physical and technical controls involved in an organisation’s information risk management processes.

An anti-bribery management system intends to help organizations in the fight against bribery, by establishing the procedures, policies and controls that help foster a culture of integrity, transparency and compliance.

This management system standard specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an energy management system, whose purpose is to enable an organization to follow a systematic approach in achieving continual improvement of energy performance, including energy efficiency, energy security, energy use and consumption.

This management system standard specifies requirements to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain and continually improve a documented management system to protect against, reduce the likelihood of occurrence, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruptive incidents when they arise.

ISO 45001 replaces/supersedes the British standard 18001. The Occupational Health and Safety Standard, is important for an organisations wellbeing and provides a framework for managing Health and Safety responsibilities. This Occupational Health and Safety Management System incorporates core organisation processes and provides the opportunity for senior management to be more involved.

Accreditation of product certification bodies offers assurance in the integrity of conformity assessment reports and certificates of products or services, thereby instilling confidence in stakeholders and promoting differentiated products and services to customers.

• Reduced risk and higher level of quality assurance
• Reduced overhead costs associated with reduction or removal of product failure, downtime, re-sampling, re-testing, re-inspection, re-auditing
• Facilitation of global trade since markets will be more ready to accept reports of an accredited CB hence minimising technical barriers to trade.
• Increasing confidence in data crucial for decision making, increasing public confidence
• Allowing flexibility for regulators and specifiers who are able to set overall policy and regulation while relying on the accredited conformity assessment bodies to evaluate compliance.

Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS) is in the process of developing a product certification scheme for the following scopes:

Kenya Standard 1758:2016 (KS 1758) is a code of practice for the horticulture industry in Kenya that stipulates the hygienic and safety requirements during the production, handling and marketing of flowers & Ornamentals, fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices.

Halal certification guarantees that products and services aimed at the Muslim population meet the requirements of Islamic law and therefore are suitable for consumption.