■Grievance, Complaint and Dispute Handling

Grievance

Applicants or certified organizations may appeal if they have doubts about matters related to ZOHO certification services.

Complaints

Relevant organizations and individuals can make written complaints about the morality, behavior and ability of ZOHO auditors and staff, the quality of ZOHO certification and various systems, product quality, environmental quality and impact, occupational health and safety accidents and impact of ZOHO certification.

Controversy

Oral or written representation of disagreement between ZOHO and certification organizations on certification procedures and certification techniques.
1. Disputes raised during the review process are generally handled by the review team leader and the reviewed organization through consultation in accordance with the review basis. If no agreement can be reached after consultation, the review team leader has the right to make a decision first. The audited organization may file a complaint with ZOHO.

2. Disputes not raised at the audit site shall be submitted in writing to the ZOHO Administrative Center.

■Grievance, Complaint and Dispute Handling Process

Lodging of complaints: The applicant or certified organization may lodge a complaint with the ZOHO Administrative Center or Management Committee if it has doubts about the decision made by ZOHO on its management system certification qualification. The appeal shall meet the following conditions:
1) The appeal shall be made in written form;

2) shall be signed and sealed by the complainant;

3) The complainant shall be the direct interested party to the complaint;

4) The time interval between the filing of the complaint and the receipt of the relevant decision or handling measure shall not exceed 30 working days.

Lodging of complaints:

Any organization or individual may submit a written complaint to ZOHO Administrative Center or Management Committee on the ethics, behavior, ability, impartiality and effectiveness of ZOHO auditors and staff, as well as various systems certified by ZOHO, product quality, environmental quality and impact, occupational health and safety accidents and impact. The complaint shall comply with the following conditions:

1) The complainant shall provide details of the complaint, supporting materials and sign the seal;

2) The complaint shall be filed within 6 months after the occurrence of the relevant matter.

The filing of a dispute

1) Disputes raised in the audit process are generally handled by the audit team leader and the audited organization in accordance with the audit basis. If no consensus can be reached after consultation, the audit team leader may make relevant conclusions of the audit team, but the dispute shall be reported to ZOHO Administrative Center within 30 working days. The audited organization may also submit the dispute to ZOHO within 30 working days.
2) For disputes arising from non-audit sites, the relevant parties shall submit them in writing to the ZOHO Administrative Center within 30 working days after the occurrence of the event involved in the dispute.

■Acceptance of Complaints, Complaints and Disputes

After accepting the complainant's complaint, complaint or dispute, the ZOHO Administrative Center or the Secretariat of the Management Committee shall collect and verify relevant information, initially review the validity of the complaint materials, and notify the complainant of the acceptance of the complaint in writing, telephone or e-mail within 10 working days.

■Investigation and Handling of Complaints, Complaints and Disputes

ZOHO Administrative Center or the Secretariat of Management Committee shall, according to the content, seriousness, frequency and severity of the complaint, organize members who have no interest in the complaint object to conduct research or form a working group to be responsible for investigation. The staff of the working group are familiar with the laws and regulations related to the complaint and the certification requirements, and have no interest in the complainant. The working group can collect evidence by convening meetings, hearing statements from both parties, hearing testimony from relevant personnel, conducting on-site investigations, investigating written evidence, and consulting experts.

Investigation are determined by the seriousness of the complaint and complaint. If it involves questioning the compliance of certified customers or their management systems, the investigation team may arrange special audits as necessary to evaluate and verify the compliance of their management systems.

The ZOHO Administrative Center or the Secretariat of the Management Committee shall notify the complainant of the investigation opinion or complaint decision in writing within 1 month after receiving the complaint, complaint and dispute, including the solution of the problem, corrective and preventive measures, etc. Decisions on appeals and complaints shall be made by, or reviewed and approved by, persons unrelated to the subject matter of the complaint. If necessary, notify the ZOHO parties or interested parties of the handling of appeals, complaints and disputes.

If the complainant is not satisfied with the results of the complaint or complaint handling, he can directly file a complaint or complaint with a higher-level institution (such as the management committee and the relevant accreditation body). ZOHO shall continue to track the progress of complaint handling to ensure the satisfaction of the complainant.

The relevant party may submit any appeal, complaint and dispute to ZOHO Administration Center in written form, and the relevant person in charge of the Administration Center shall coordinate and organize relevant functional departments to deal with it, and the ZOHO management representative shall make final evaluation on the investigation and handling results;

■Complaint Channel

China National Accreditation Committee for Conformity Assessment

Address: No.10, Chaowai Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Postcode: 100020
Tel: 010-65994648

Fax: 010-65994593
E-mail:info@cnab.org.cn
ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board

P.O. Box 586
Milwaukee, WI 53201-0586 E-mail:anab@anab.org
ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board
Address: 600 North Plankinton Avenue 300 Suite, 1 414 272-3937
Milwaukee, WI 53201-3005,USA P.O. Box 3005 Fax: 1 414 765-8661

Shanghai Zhonghao Certification Co., Ltd. or Management Committee

Address: Room 203, Building B, China Tenod International Center, Lane 908, Xiuwen Road, Minhang District, Shanghai
Tel: 021-3126-9911
E-mail:support@zohocert.com