Towards an ISO-9000 compliant certification service provider

In this paper we present a complete reference framework for the operation of Certification Service Provider as an organisation. The objective is to form an intermediate reference model, to which the CSPs will conform, towards the full compliance to the ISO-9000 quality standards. There are two dimensions of quality in respect of a CSP: The first quality dimension regards the value added security services and products it provides, which must fulfil the user requirements and be characterised by efficiency, reliability, security, credibility and trust. The second quality dimension refers to the internal organisation, which must maximise its effectiveness by achieving efficient management, have a clear and strict structure and comply with the registered internal procedures. The guidelines for achieving the above mentioned quality objectives are reflected within the published Quality Policy Statement and the Certification Practice Statement.