What is ISO/IEC 17065?

Basic definition

What does the standard certify, and what does it regulate?

ISO/IEC 17065 is the international standard that sets out requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services. In Türkiye it is applied as TS EN ISO/IEC 17065; accreditation in this field is provided by the Certification Accreditation Department of the Turkish Accreditation Agency (TÜRKAK).

ISO/IEC 17065 does not certify a product directly; it defines how the body that certifies the product, process or service must operate. The aim is for certification decisions to be made impartially, competently and consistently, so that buyers, authorities and consumers who rely on a certificate have grounds for that trust.

The current edition is ISO/IEC 17065:2012. Published in September 2012, it replaced the earlier ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996, and it was confirmed in ISO’s 2024 systematic review. The standard is managed by ISO’s committee on conformity assessment, ISO/CASCO.

Structure

Main clauses of the standard

4 · General requirements

Legal and contractual matters, management of impartiality, liability and financing, non-discriminatory conditions, confidentiality and publicly available information.

5 · Structural requirements

Organisational structure, top management and the mechanism for safeguarding impartiality.

6 · Resource requirements

Personnel competence and the internal and external resources used for evaluation.

7 · Process requirements

Application and application review, evaluation, review, certification decision, certification documentation, directory of certified products, surveillance, changes, suspension and withdrawal, records, complaints and appeals.

8 · Management system

Documentation, control of records, internal audit, management review, corrective and preventive actions.

Clause headings are a summary; the binding text is the standard itself. The standard can be purchased from ISO and TSE.

Certification scheme

Why is it not enough on its own?

ISO/IEC 17065 defines how the body works; the certification scheme defines what is certified and against which rules. The scheme owner may be a public authority (for example the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the European Commission or the USDA) or a private scheme owner (for example GLOBALG.A.P.). ISO/IEC 17067 is the complementary document explaining the fundamentals of product certification and scheme structure.

Accreditation and approval routes differ between programmes. For example, USDA/NOP uses its own accreditation system and Organic JAS uses the MAFF registration system. The relevant scope and programme conditions must be considered together. For a detailed comparison, see the comparison table in the programme centre.

• TR-ORGTurkish Organic Agriculture
• EU-ORGEU Organic
• GG-IFAGLOBALG.A.P. IFA

Comparison

How it differs from related standards

• ISO/IEC 17065 — bodies certifying products, processes and services.
• ISO/IEC 17020 — bodies performing inspection; focused on examining a specific product, process or installation to determine its conformity.
• ISO/IEC 17021-1 — bodies certifying management systems such as ISO 9001.
• ISO/IEC 17024 — bodies certifying persons (personnel).
• ISO/IEC 17025 — testing and calibration laboratories.

Latest development

A new edition is on the way

According to ISO records, the second edition of ISO/IEC 17065 (ISO/IEC FDIS 17065) has been at the final draft ballot stage since 4 August 2026 and had not yet been published as of 25 September 2026. Once published it will replace the 2012 edition; transition periods will be announced by accreditation bodies.

VORCETT

VORCETT and ISO/IEC 17065

VORCETT is preparing its corporate and technical infrastructure in line with TS EN ISO/IEC 17065. VORCETT is not currently an accredited body; no certification service is offered until accreditation and programme-specific authorisation/recognition processes are complete.