As the final stages of the development of ISO 14001:2015 near to completion, there has been much discussion about the transition period that will be allowed for organizations wishing to move from ISO 14001:2004 to ISO 14001:2015.
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF), which is the global association of National Accreditation Bodies (NAB), such as UKAS, ANAB and RvA, and other interested bodies in the accreditation process, has resolved at their recent General Assembly that the maximum transition period will be three years from the date of the publication of ISO 14001:2015.
The formal resolution reads:
IAF Resolution 2014–11 – (Agenda Item 8) ISO 14001: 2015: Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with guidance for use – The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to endorse ISO 14001: 2015 as a normative document. The General Assembly further agreed that the transition period of ISO 14001: 2015 will be three years from the date of publication.
A copy of the original decision can be found on page 2 of the IAF Resolutions document can be found at http://bit.ly/11ZdhhA