Dear certified applicant,

ISO 22301:2019 (hereinafter referred to as the “New Standard”) has been released on October 31, 2019. In order to facilitate the conversion of certification standards and continuously improve the certification effectiveness of business continuity management system, based on the guiding principle of CNAS-EC-060_2019 Notes on the Adoption of ISO 22301-2019 Certification Standard for Business Continuity Management System, CQC hereby announces the work related to the above conversion as follows:

I. Time limit for conversion of certification standard

The conversion period of the New Standard starts from the implementation date of this document to October 31, 2022. Therefore, all certificates issued based on GB/T30146-2013/ISO 22301:2012 (hereinafter referred to as the “Old Standard”) will be invalid from October 31, 2022, regardless of whether the validity period marked in the certificate expires or not. Please make reasonable arrangements for standard conversion after evaluation according to the requirements.

2．To protect the interests of applicants, CQC will no longer deal with and issue certificates based on the Old Standard from January 1, 2022. Before this date, CQC can still carry out certification activities based on the Old Standard according to the applicants’ requirements. However, the certificates issued based on the Old Standard will be invalid since the Old Standard will be invalid after October 31, 2022. Please make reasonable arrangements after evaluating possible impact.

3．During the conversion period, the validity period of the certificates issued by CQC according to the Old Standard shall not extend beyond October 31, 2022 (regardless of any longer validity periods indicated on the certificates).

II. Conversion Arrangements

1．CQC plans to deal with the certification and conversion based on New Standard from April 1, 2021. After the certification decision, the certificate will be renewed or issued based on the New Standard to the applicants who meet the requirements (before CQC gets the accreditation for the New Standard from CNAS, the certificate issued will not carry the CNAS accreditation mark).

2．Each certified applicant shall plan and implement the conversion in strict accordance with relevant requirements to ensure that the on-site audit of the conversion of the Old Standard certificate to the New Standard certificate is completed before the conversion deadline (October 31, 2022). During the conversion period, CQC will implement the conversion according to the requirements of the certified applicants in combination with the annual supervised audit, re-certification audit, or separate conversion audit.

3．Please conduct impact analysis/difference assessment according to the conversion requirements and the New Standard, so as to determine the actual needs for resources and timeline and ensure the smooth implementation of the standard conversion.

4．For the detailed technical requirements and work arrangements of certification standard conversion, please contact the corresponding branch of CQC.

5．The contact information of each branch can be found at the following link: Contact Information

Appendix:

CNAS-EC-060_2019 Notes on the Adoption of ISO 22301-2019 Certification Standard for Business Continuity Management System

Please be informed.

China Quality Certification Centre

                                                                                                April 15, 2021