1 Project Name:
Examination and Approval of Establishment of Certification Consultant Agency

2 Legal Basis
1 Decision of the State Council on the establishment of Administrative Licensing for Items Subject to Administrative Examination and Approval which Need to Be Retained (Order No. 415 of the State Council)
2 Rules on Registration and Supervision of Certification Agency and of Examination and Approval of Certification Training and Consultant Agency issued jointly by Certification Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, State Administration for Industry and Commerce and former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (Joint Issuance No. 21 (2002) of the Certification Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China)

3 Conditions for Application
(1) For applying for the establishment of certification consultant agency, the applicant shall:
a have regular location and necessary facilities;
b have management document in conformity with the requirements of certification accreditation;
c have registered capital no less than 500,000 RMB;
d have at least 5 specific certification consultants in relevant fields including 2 advanced consultants and 3 consultants.
(2) For applying for the establishment of branch office, the applicant shall:
a have regular office place and office equipments;
b have at least 2 specific certification consultants in relevant fields including one advanced consultant and one consultant;
c have management document in conformity with the requirements of certification accreditation.
(3) For applying for the expansion of business scope, the applicant shall:
a hold an 4-year approval ;
b have at least one specific consultants in relevant fields;
c have management documents in relevant fields.
(4) For put on records of the office, the applicant shall:
a have regular office place and office equipments invested by the headquarter;
b have full-time staffs employed by the headquarter;
c have management documents in conformity with the requirements of certification accreditation.

4 Implementing Organizations
Authority dealing with application: Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision
Authority approving application: Certification Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as CNAT).

5 Procedure
(1) Application and Acceptance
A Applicant shall submit application to Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision and submit following application materials:
For establishment of a new consultant agency, following document shall be submitted:
a Application for Establishment of Certification Consultant Agency (see Annex 1) in duplicate;
b Certificates for registered capital;
c Identification certificate of legal representative to be appointed;
d Pre-authorizing Notice of the Enterprise Name Registration;
e Certificates proving the use of business operation sites;
f Documents of quality management system (a set of quality manual and procedural document);
g Name list, identification certificates and registered certificate of competency of chief executive officers and full-time staffs to be employed (in case of non registered staffs by CNAT, a confirmation document issued by CNAT shall be provided);
h The level and purpose of fees for certification consultation to be implemented;
i Commitment of observance of national laws, regulations and rules after approval;
j Commitment of trueness, completeness and accurateness of information and materials provided.
For expansion of business scope, following document shall be submitted:
a Application for Item Expansion of Certification Consultant Agency (see Annex 2) in duplicate;
b Approval of Certification Consultant Agency (copy);
c Name list of full-time personnel applying for item expansion, statement of full-time (original) and copy of certificate of competency;
d System document on relevant fields of items applied for expansion;
e Commitment of trueness, completeness and accurateness of information and materials provided.
B Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision shall examine the application materials and make a decision on acceptance or rejection of the application within 5 days, and issue a writing notice.
C Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision shall send the application materials to CNAT by post or by assigned person after the materials have been approved. Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision shall give recommendations and affix official stamp.
(2) Examination and Determination
A Two staffs of the Department of Accreditation Supervision in CNAT shall examine the application materials within 10 working days according to Key Points for Examination and Approval of Establishment of New Certification Consultant Agency.
B In case the application materials do not meet relevant requirements, the Department of Accreditation Supervision shall send a Form on Existing Issues in the Application Materials for Certification Consultant Agency (see Annex 3) to Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, and the latter shall forward the Form to applicant.
C In case the materials supplemented by the applicant still do not meet relevant requirements, the Department of Accreditation Supervision shall notify Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision and the latter shall forward this information to applicant. The applicant shall reapply (application materials will not be returned) in case it still has an intention of application.
D In case the application materials meet relevant requirements, relevant informations about the agency and its staffs of the certification consultant agency to be established or to expand the business scope shall be published on the website of CNAT. An expert panel shall be established if no objection is presented by relevant parts during the period of publication. The panel shall examine the documents and, if necessary, the sites for 30 days.
E CNAT shall make following decisions according the opinions of the expert panel within 10 working days:
a Approval. For the establishment of new certification consultant agency, the Department of Accreditation Supervision shall send the Notice on Approval of Establishment of Certification Consultant Agency (see Annex 4) to Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision and the latter shall forward the notice to the applicant. For expansion business scope, the Department of Accreditation Supervision shall send the Approval for Certification Consultant Agency (see Annex 5) to Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision
b Rejection. The Department of Accreditation Supervision shall notify Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision and the latter shall notify the applicant.
(3) Issuing Certificate
A Establishment of new agency: The applicant shall finish the enterprise registration. CNAT, after receiving the copy of business license verified by Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, shall send the Approval for Certification Consultant Agency to Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision and the latter shall forward the Approval to the applicant.
B Expansion of business scope: The applicant may draw a new Approval for Certification Consultant Agency from Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision by its former Approval for Certification Consultant Agency.
(4) Renewal of Administrative Licensing
Licensee shall submit application 30 days before expiration date for renew the administrative licensing.
(5) Flow of Examination and Approval
See Flow Chart of Examination and Approval.
(6) Business Address
Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision: Room 1105, No 1227, Changle Road, Shanghai.
CNAT: Room 2105/2111,B, No 9, East Madian Road, Haidian District, Beijing

6 Time Limit
(1) Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision shall finish the first examination within 20 working days from the date of accept the application;
(2) CNAT shall make a decision on approval or rejection within 20 days from the date of receiving the application materials (30 days for publishing application materials and 30 days for panel examination are excluded).

7 Fee
No fee charged for the licensing process.

Note: Relevant forms and flow chart of examination and approval of certification consultant agency can be downloaded on the website of CNAT (www.cnca.gov.cn).