a) certification body

impartial body, or organization, possessing the necessary competence to develop, promulgate, finance, and operate a certification programme, and to conduct certifications of conformity

b) certification mark

sign, or symbol, owned and controlled by the certification body that is used exclusively by the third-party certification programme to identify products or services as being certified

c) certification programme

system that relates to specific products, processes or services to which the same particular standards and rules, and the same procedure, apply

NOTE A certification programme uses or is operated by a third-party inspection/testing body, or organization, and the programme authorises the use of controlled certification marks or certificates of conformity as evidence of conformity

d) third-party certification

certification that is rendered by a technically and otherwise competent body other than one controlled by the producer or the buyer