Declaration of Impartiality

AENOR Confía guarantees impartiality in its conformity assessment activities through a rigorous management system, measures against conflicts of interest, and external supervision. Its commitment is based on transparency, ethics, and the technical competence of its staff.

The activities of AENOR Confía, SAU (hereinafter AENOR Confía) are characterized by unwavering impartiality. This principle is the essence of the organization and the cornerstone of its purpose: to contribute to the transformation of society by building trust between organizations and individuals through conformity assessment and by promoting a culture of quality and sustainability in its three dimensions (environmental, social, and governance).

Since its inception, AENOR Confía (formerly AENOR INTERNACIONAL, SAU, and before that, as part of the Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification, AENOR) has maintained rigor and independence in all its actions as fundamental factors in the development of conformity assessment activities. This is complemented by transparency in its operations, a key principle and essential element for adding value to both public and private entities.

AENOR Confía's funding source comes from conformity assessment activities, posing no threat to the impartiality necessary to develop certification, validation or verification.

AENOR Confía has an effective management system that guarantees best practices and impartiality in its operations, and includes tools for the continuous monitoring and tracking of compliance by all AENOR Confía departments. Within its management system, AENOR Confía has defined and implemented measures for the management and control of criminal risks associated with conformity assessment activities. These measures enhance AENOR Confía's legal security, preventing potential criminal convictions and contributing to the proper functioning of the market, generating greater reputation and competitiveness. This is further complemented by supervision from accreditation bodies worldwide. The result is a remarkable guarantee of impartiality recognized by the tens of thousands of organizations that hold its certificates.

Regarding the management of conflicts of interest related to the outsourcing of conformity assessment services, AENOR Confía has the corresponding service provision contracts, which include the commitments of the external entities regarding confidentiality and impartiality.

Rigor and impartiality, together with the technical competence of its staff, are the most important assets that AENOR Confía has, since conformity assessment is an activity framed within the Services sector, the role of people is fundamental and their impact on impartiality is key.

Therefore, the necessary precautions have been adopted, as reflected in the corresponding documents, to guarantee the absence of any conflicts of interest that could compromise the impartiality of personal actions. This applies to every person who provides services at or for AENOR.

Trust is obligated to accept and sign the corresponding Code of Ethics, which includes clauses relating to confidentiality and impartiality. This is coupled with a rigorous process for defining and evaluating the competencies of personnel involved in conformity assessment processes, as well as in the design of their continuing training.

AENOR Confía is part of a group in which one of its companies carries out consulting activities. Since consulting is an activity that poses a potential threat to impartiality, measures have been established to safeguard it.

To this end, AENOR Confía declares that:

  • It does not carry out management system consultancy activities.

  • It will not provide conformity assessment services that are subject to regulatory restrictions until at least two years have elapsed following the completion of the consultancy services.

  • It will not imply that its certification services are simpler, faster, or less costly as a result of using consultancy services provided within the group.

Furthermore, a corporate impartiality management model has been implemented across the group, systematically analysing, managing, and controlling all activities carried out by the group companies in order to ensure the complete independence and impartiality of conformity assessment activities.
 
Likewise, the democratic structure of the Entity's Governing Bodies, together with the established decision-making system, provides an additional safeguard for impartiality, both in decision-making processes and in the analysis of objective, verified, and substantiated data and information.
 
The Governing Bodies, as well as the entire functional structure of AENOR Confía, are firmly convinced that impartiality and conformity assessment are inseparable. This principle constitutes the purpose of this Declaration, which is endorsed and ratified by the Impartiality Committee. The Committee undertakes to ensure its ongoing compliance, in line with the responsibilities entrusted to it, and to consider any suggestions or advancements in best practices relating to impartiality.
 
This Declaration was reviewed and unanimously ratified at the meeting of the Impartiality Committee held on 28 April 2026.