Jakość - Normalizacja - Certyfikacja
Dodatek lobbingowy do "RZECZPOSPOLITEJ".
19 czerwca 2008 r.

po polsku

A quality guarantee for the consumer and the confirmation of the producer's reliability

The Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard (PN)

The Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard has existed since 1995. It was established by the Resolution No 14/95 of the Polish Committee for Standardization of 10th August 1995 concerning the policy of and the rules governing the use of the Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard. Since 2002 the rules governing the granting and using of the Mark have been regulated by the Standardization Act of 12th September 2002 (Dziennik Ustaw - Polish Official Journal of Laws no 169, item 1386, dated 2002) art.7 and by the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of Poland of 23rd December 2002 concerning the rules of granting and using the Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard (Dziennik Ustaw - Polish Official Journal of Laws no 244, item 2077, dated 2002); on the basis of these two documents the President of the Polish Committee for Standardization issued Disposition No 1 of 15th January 2004, establishing "The rules of granting the Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard".

The Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard functions as the Polish equivalent of marks of conformity with standards in other countries (such as French NF, German DIN or British BSI Kitemark). It guarantees the solidity of the producer and the quality of the product. It is a voluntary certification mark. Although it cannot replace the legally regulated assessment of the conformity of products, it complements and extends such an assessment. In establishing this mark, the Polish Committee for Standardization was governed by the intention to provide all concerned parties with an additional form of confirmation of product conformity with the Polish Standards requirements.

We strongly believe that producers who voluntarily submit their products for certification for the Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard will successfully use our mark and will be eager to retain the granted certificates.

Since 1995 16 bodies of product certification have been authorized by the President of the Polish Committee for Standardization to grant the mark.

The Polish Committee for Standardization systematically upgrades the rules of granting the mark so as to both adjust them to the demands of the market and at the same time keep them reliable for consumers.

A few questions concerning the Mark of Conformity, most frequently asked by the producers, are presented below, together with the explanations. We hope that other interested parties will find them useful, too, and also that they will help consumers clearly understand the nature of the mark which they can see on the purchased product.

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Our products bear the CE mark. They also meet the requirements of the harmonised standards and legal articles. On the basis of the fact that our products meet the requirements higher than those of the Polish Standard we would like to mark them additionally with the Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard. This would be of mutual advantage: we could increase the sales while at the same time contribute to the promotion of this Polish mark of quality. What are the possibilities of settling this issue free of charge, according to our suggestions?

According to the solutions adopted in the UE, products subject to the compulsory (resulting from the New Approach directives) assessment of conformity and bearing the CE mark (i.e. your products, for example) can bear an additional certification mark solely when such mark provides the information on additional (other than those mentioned in the harmonised standard) qualities and requirements that the product meets, except for the legal articles requirements. It is not possible, therefore, to use the voluntary certificate in order to confirm the conformity of the product with the Polish Standard harmonised with the New Approach directive or with legal articles.

It is possible, however, to draw up the so-called certification criteria which are based on Polish Standards other than the one you have mentioned and which describe the requirements other than those specified in this harmonised standard and in legal articles. This is done together by the Polish Committee for Standardization, your company and a body of product certification which co-operates with us. In such case your company would be entitled to apply for the certificate of conformity with the Polish Standard since such a certificate would provide information on the fact that the products of your company meet the requirements that are higher or different than those related to the CE mark.

Unfortunately, there is no possibility of receiving the certificate of conformity with the Polish Standard free of charge. This results from the definition of the certificate, according to which the certificate is the confirmation carried out by the third party of meeting the requirements of the reference document. This means that the third party ( a body of product certification) needs to conduct particular research and actions which generate costs. Besides, the certification body is civilly liable for the activities related to the product certification; consequently, research is carried out in the body's own or co-operating accredited laboratories, while the body does not automatically acknowledge reports from research carried out by other subjects, not accredited by the Polish Centre of Accreditation.

How much time could it take to draw up additional requirements you have mention (by the Polish Committee for Standardization, a body of product certification and our company) so as to become entitled to mark the products with the PN mark, while they are subject to the CE mark?

Time necessary to draw up additional requirements (a reference document) depends on how effective the co-operation among the three subjects is, and also on the type of products and the amount of additional requirements. It is therefore difficult to specify time necessary to draw up such a document. We can only ensure that the activities which lie in the hands of the Polish Committee for Standardization (i.e. accepting the requirements and adding the established criteria to the list) shall be performed immediately upon receiving them. Defining the criteria between the body of product certification and the producer putting forward the motion is the matter of their mutual engagement and determination.

Is it necessary for obtaining the mark of conformity with the Polish Standard to have the ISO 9000 quality management system? Can such a certificate help obtain the certificate of conformity with the Polish Standard?

Certification for the mark of conformity with the Polish Standard is conducted according to the 5 ISO model, which means that both the conformity of the product with the Polish Standard and the production control system are assessed by the body of product certification. The production control system has to guarantee the conformity of the product with the Polish Standard within the period of certificate validity (3 years). According to the ISO 9001 standard, having the quality management system certificate involves having the production control system, providing the quality management system includes the product being certified (ISO 9000 allows for excluding certain areas from the certificate). If the company already has the ISO 9001 certificate which includes the product undergoing certification, the second stage of certification (assessing the production control system) is limited to the review of quality management system documents.

We have the certificate of the ISO 9001 system, issued by a notified foreign body, entitled to certify products. We would like to obtain the Polish Standard (PN) mark for one of our products. Is it possible to apply for the certificate of conformity with the Polish Standard to this foreign body or should it rather be a Polish body?

The mark of conformity with the Polish Standard can be granted only by the President of the Polish Committee for Standardization or by an authorized certification body. At present, none of the foreign certification bodies has such authorization. Hence, it is impossible to certify a product for the conformity with Polish Standard in any other bodies but the Polish one, authorized by the President of the Polish Committee for Standardization.

Where can one find the list of Polish Standards appropriate to certify products for the PN mark? Which Polish accredited bodies are authorised to issue PN certificates?

The list of standards appropriate to certify products for the PN mark as well as the list of certification bodies, authorised by the President of the Polish Committee for Standardization to issue PN certificates can be found at www.pkn.pl (the website of the Polish Committee for Standardization) at "Znak PN" ("PN mark") link. These lists are "open", so that a body of product certification interested in obtaining authorisation to certify for the Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard can obtain such authorisation on its own initiative (or on the initiative of the Polish Committee for Standardization). The list of standards appropriate to certify for the PN Mark can be extended, provided an appropriate procedure has been followed.

We are going to apply for the PN certificate for the conformity with the PN-EN standard for our products; we are afraid that when the standard is amended we will have to incur additional costs for the certificate renewal. Does the Committee plan any advantages?

The procedure to be followed in the case of amendment of the standard the conformity with which has been confirmed by the certificate of conformity with the Polish Standard has been described in detail in Disposition No 1 of the President of the Polish Committee for Standardization, establishing the rules of certification for the mark of conformity with the Polish Standard. The Disposition is also available at "Znak PN" ("PN mark") link on the website of the Polish Committee for Standardization.

Unfortunately, the amendment of a standard requires that a body of product certification takes an updating action, which may trigger additional costs for the producer. Prior to the beginning of the certification process it is recommended to become familiar with the "Amendment programme", which contains information on possible amendments or a withdrawal of the standard in question. The programme is available on the website of the Polish Committee for Standardization or at the phone number 022 556 77 55.

Is the certificate obtained for the conformity with the Polish Standard subject to any restrictions if it turns out that this amended Polish Standard differs significantly from the previous version? How long is the previous certificate valid? It is known that the Polish Standard which has been withdrawn can still be applied. If our products are produced according to the withdrawn Polish Standards for old-type devices that are still used by our customers, are we still entitled to put the mark of conformity with the withdrawn Polish Standard on our products?

In the case of withdrawing a standard from the set of valid standards the right to put the Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard on the product becomes automatically revoked. The certificate of conformity of the product with the withdrawn standard becomes either suspended for the period necessary to conduct the updating action (if the standard has been withdrawn and replaced by another) or invalid (if the standard has been withdrawn without replacement).

Sławomir Wilczyński
chief specialist in the Mark of Conformity with the Polish Standard

Polski Komitet Normalizacyjny
(The Polish Committee for Standardization)

www.pkn.pl