The Climate Change Response Act clearly sets the long-term goal of greenhouse
gases (GHGs) mitigation as net-zero emissions in 2050, promotes the level of climate
governance, and initiates the carbon fee levy mechanism. To help domestic industries
meet the emerging verification needs under regulatory rules and to strengthen the quality
management of accreditation bodies (ABs) and verification bodies (VBs) are the focus of
this project. The work is divided into four aspects:
(1) Quality management of institutions: establish operational procedures related to
assessment and management of ABs and VBs, and enhance professional
manpower through 15 training sections; deliver personnel management
suggestions accordingly.
(2) Assisting the setup of a new accreditation body: establish competence criteria
and training schemes for the assessment team and other personnel involved in
the accreditation activities, and help the new AB in operating the accreditation
system.
(3) Guiding verification bodies: sketch competence qualification, training, and
management mechanisms for verifiers, and provide guidance to 10 potential
domestic VBs, including the establishment of administrative procedures and
personnel development.
(4) Promoting international recognition and interactions: invite an international
expert in this field to Taiwan to conduct one practical demonstration and one
seminar − States and Trend of Greenhouse Gas Accreditation and VerificationSystem Development − for the international synchronization of our domestic
accreditation and verification information.
For quality management of institutions, 15 trainings were specifically held for the
potential assessors and personnel involved in accreditation activities. The course content
included the current operation status of international accreditation organizations and
domestic accreditation system, generic competence and communication skills required by
assessors, and the practice and implementation experience sharing of the ISO 14060 series.
The courses spanned from April to October 13, including one practical training about the
evaluation of destruction removal efficiency (DRE) of fluorine-containing greenhouse
gas reduction technology. Two officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA)
Singapore and one gas metrology expert from South Korea were invited to participate.
From the results of these training activities, it was realized that practical training on the
operation procedures and proper record-writing skills is currently lacking for both
accreditation assessors and auditors, and it can be promoted in future work.
As for the setup of a new accreditation body, we first assisted with establishing the
accreditation body preparatory secretariat at the National Environmental Research
Academy (NERA), and worked with the NERA team to build the accreditation
management system according to the provisions of ISO/IEC 17011. The drafts of the
accreditation process, quality manuals, and related operating procedures, rules, and forms
had been completed. Industrial and academic information and experiences were also
collected through expert consultation meetings to ensure the completeness and practical
feasibility of the system. The above-mentioned 15 training sessions were the basis for
assessment personnel development.
In regard to guiding verification bodies, a total of 10 teams were selected this year to
participate in the training courses. The selection was conducted in May, and the agreement
was signed and relevant courses started in July. Training activities for potential new VBs
were general courses for both verification and quality management system personnel,
which included 38 hours about relevant ISO standards and regulations, and 27 hours about
quality management systems. Since the relevant sub-laws and regulatory guidance of the
Climate Change Response Act have not yet been fully announced, it is recommended that
in the subsequent planning of verification personnel training, 6 to 12 hours of courses can
be provided on the execution status and practical issues of domestic regulations.
Regarding the competence requirements of verification personnel, those of the California
Air Resources Board (CARB) and NEA Singapore could be used as a reference. A clear
qualification and monitoring mechanism should be established in the training and
auditing assessment, such as offering special classes for lead verifiers to improve the
assessment skills and quality of verification work.
Since one of the core businesses of the NERA is to carry out accreditation, it is
necessary to ensure the fairness of subsequent accreditation to meet the impartiality
requirements of ISO 17011. In terms of training course design, we referred to the practice
of the Taiwan Accreditation Foundation (TAF) and only offered common training courses
with the provision of generic information for all participating teams. No specific advice
or counseling for individual teams about management system or verification skills was
provided in this work. The relevant regulations are listed in the agreement, which was
signed by each participating team.
For the promotion of international recognition and interaction with foreign
accreditation bodies, one demonstration of simulated verification in accordance with ISO
14064-3 was held in October, in which Singapore NEA and domestic experts were invited
to jointly guide a total of more than 50 participants. During this activity, participants
actually practiced the verification or accreditation process, depending on their potential
roles as verifiers or assessors, and the experts identified improvement opportunities and
provided appropriate suggestions. The overall output of this project was displayed and
communication with interested parties was conveyed through a seminar held in Taichung
on November 6.
According to the Management Measures for Greenhouse Gas Accreditation Bodies
and Verification Bodies, ABs need to be connected with international accreditation or
certification organizations to fulfill qualification requirement. In order to be an
associate/full member of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC), an AB must
operate in compliance with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011 and relevant mandatory
IAF and APAC documents. An applicant for APAC Associate Membership must
accompany its application with documentary evidence satisfactory to the Executive
Committee that it is carrying out accreditation of conformity assessment bodies and has
accredited at least 2 such bodies, and commits to apply for APAC mutual recognition
arrangement (MRA) signatory status, which will be based on the results of a stringent
peer evaluation, within 3 years of becoming an associate member. An application for
membership will be assessed for admission by the Executive Committee. The AB is
eligible to become an Accreditation Body Member of IAF, and furthermore, the IAF
multilateral recognition agreement (MLA) signatory, after it becomes an APAC full
member. However, in the scope of validation and verification, due to the relatively new
implementation of ISO/IEC 17029 regulations for validation and verification bodies, IAF
still needs time to coordinate the differences among regional accreditation organizations,
and no IAF MLAs under this scope have yet been signed.
The four major goals of this project have been accomplished on schedule. The
following are some suggestions for follow-up work:
(1) In order to ensure that the new accreditation body fulfills the regulatory
qualification requirements, it is recommended that NERA actively participate in
the APAC annual meetings and related training activities, and when appropriate,
invite experts of APAC in this field to Taiwan to exchange experience in the
preparation of associate membership application.
(2) In order to comply with the application requirements for APAC associate
membership, upon the completion of legal authorization, it is recommended that
NERA perform accreditation assessment practices. Subject to the requirements
of impartiality, NERA could accept the accreditation application of newly
established verification bodies for performing verification services in
compliance with the relevant ISO series.
(3) With the competence of organization level verification and accreditation
assessment which was built up this year as a base, strengthen the knowledge of
greenhouse gas reduction methodologies and provide relevant training activities
for assessment personnel, and expand the domestic capacity of GHG validation
and verification at the project level.
(4) Set a simulated real site for practical training of verification in compliance with
ISO 14064-1 and ISO 14064-3, and hold more training activities for new
verifiers and accreditation assessors to improve their verification or assessment
skills.
(5) Establish an online system for accreditation application and information
provision that meet ISO/IEC 17011 information requirements.
