The SA8000 standard was issued in 1997 and published by SAI - Social Accountability International. It is based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other international human rights, national and international legislation, industrial standards and codes of conduct.

Certification in accordance with this standard is voluntary and is intended to ensure that the organizations that it certifies adopt practices to protect workers’ basic human rights.

SA8000:2014 is the fourth edition of the standard and the first review since 2008. The new version brings no significant changes, it only contains editorial amendments, clearer language and, in some cases, greater consistency within or between elements of the standard, including:

• An increased focus on the approach to the management system so as to fully and sustainably comply with the SA8000 requirements, enhancing the organization’s social performance (continuous improvement);
• Clarification of the definition of pre-existing concepts and the introduction of new ones: corrective action, preventive action, organization, temporary work, minimum wage, assessment of risk, workers’ representative for SA8000, social performance, involvement of stakeholders or interested parties;
• Health and Safety (requirement 3): establishment of the health and safety committee and its responsibilities;
• Management System (requirement 9): establishment of the social performance team and its responsibilities and the identification and assessment of risks.

A new feature of the SA8000:2014 edition is the Social Fingerprint^®, a set of tools that help organizations to measure and improve their social performance management systems. The Social Fingerprint® helps to identify weaknesses in the organization’s management system and guide the introduction of specific improvements and the prioritisation of areas of expertise.

SA8000 aims to increase the competitiveness of any organization that voluntarily ensures the ethical component of its production cycle and process, guaranteeing compliance with national legislation and its nine requirements:

• Child Labour;
• Forced or Compulsory Labour;
• Health and Safety;
• Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining;
• Discrimination;
• Disciplinary Practices;
• Working Hours;
• Remuneration;
• Management System.

On its website, SAI displays the SA8000 Performance Indicator Annex, which determines the minimum level of performance that a certified organization must demonstrate, as well as other documents that help to interpret and implement the standard, such as the SA8000:2014 Guidance Document – the Implementation Guide for the SA8000 standard, with examples of possible methodologies to implement for compliance verification.

APCER is one of the few certification bodies worldwide which is accredited by the SAAS - Social Accountability Accreditation Services for the provision of certification services in Portugal and Spain within the area of Social Responsibility, in accordance with this standard.

The aim of measures to reconcile professional, personal and family life, in any and every organization, is to ensure that people are successful in three areas of their lives. The evidence gathered reveals that supporting employees in their efforts to balance work with personal and family life is not about “kindness”. Achieving this balance is in the interests of everyone involved because it has a positive impact on productivity, attraction of talent, motivation and retention of the workforce.

efr – Entidade Familiarmente Responsável (Responsible Family Entity) certification is promoted by the Fundação Másfamilia in order to respond to the current socio-labour context which is characteried by flexibility, competitiveness and commitment. To implement the efr management model, organizations can be guided by the efr 1000 family of standards, and in particular by the efr 1000-1: requirements for implementation within large and medium-sized organizations as well as the efr 1000-2: requirements for small organizations.

APCER is a partner of the Fundação Másfamilia for efr certification.

See the brochure for more information

On 23rd July 2014, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted EU Regulation No. 910/2014 on electronic identification and on reliable services for electronic transactions in the domestic market (better known as "eIDAS" regulation), with regard to the rules governing the provision of reliable services. The 15-year European directive on a community framework for electronic signatures (Directive 1999/93/CE) has thus been repealed.

eIDAS’ main goal is to establish a common European base for reliable and secure electronic interaction, increasing the confidence and security of online transactions in the European Union and encouraging greater use of online services by citizens, economic operators and public administration. It establishes a wide variety of reliable services as well as the mutual cross-border recognition of electronic means of identification (eID) and is thus bringing about an important change for today’s European digital market.

Aiming at the digital market and at a paperless world, eIDAS is opening the way to “end-to-end” electronic transactions and processes which are replacing traditional activities and manual processes while maintaining the same legal value.

The ISO 22301 – Societal Security – Business Continuity Management Systems – Requirements standard was developed to help organizations minimize the risk associated with disruptive events. This standard replaces the British standard BS 25999.

ISO 22301 specifies the requirements for planning, establishing, implementing, operating, monitoring, reviewing, maintaining and continuously improving a management system in order to effectively respond to incidents or events that could disrupt an organization’s normal functioning. The requirements specified in ISO 22301 are generic and are intended to apply to all organizations, regardless of their type, size or nature. The scope of these requirements depends on the workplace environment and on the complexity of the organization concerned.

The standard is based on the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle, which allows for integration with other management systems, such as ISO 9001 – Quality Management System, ISO 14001 – Environmental Management System, and ISO/IEC 27001 – Information Security Management System and ISO/IEC 20000-1 – Information Technology Services Management.

Asset management is a process which involves variables such as costs, risks, opportunities and performance benefits, where the balance between these same variables can be taken into account over different stages of an organization’s life.

The ISO 55001 “Asset Management – Management Systems – Requirements” standard defines a set of requirements that, when implemented and maintained, ensure the good performance of an organization’s asset management, meeting the needs and expectations of stakeholders or interested parties and guaranteeing the creation and maintenance of value.

AThe ISO 55000 family of standards is made up of:

• ISO 55000 “Asset management. Overview, principles and terminology”;
• ISO 55001 “Asset management. Management systems. Requirements”;
• ISO 55002 “Asset management. Management systems. Guidelines for the application of ISO 55001”.

It is a standard which can apply to any type of organization, regardless of its size and the assets that it manages. It has been internationally developed to be applied to tangible assets such as: property, equipment and infrastructure, planes, boats, vehicles, resources, gardens and parks; and it can also be applied to intangible assets.

The ISO/IEC 27001 standard specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, operating, monitoring, reviewing, maintaining and improving an information security management system, as well as the requirements for implementing safety checks in accordance with the organization’s individual needs.

Its implementation demonstrates the organization’s concern with preserving the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information.

Information is a crucial asset for an organization’s operation and survival.

Implementing the ISO/IEC 27001 standard allows organizations to effectively manage and protect all information which is considered critical through the correct selection and implementation of safety checks, thus generating a high level of confidence among all stakeholders and interested parties, primarily customers.

The standard adopts the ISO system management model, thus allowing it to be easily integrated with other systems.

In the scope of information security, APCER also provides services ISO/IEC 27701 - Privacy information management and ISO/IEC 27018 - Protection of personally identifiable information (PII) in public clouds.

Efficient energy management is a priority for organizations, not only because of its significant potential for reducing costs, but also because of its role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

An energy management system based on ISO 50001 is an integral part of an organization’s overall management system which aims to establish the systems and processes needed to improve the organization’s overall energy performance, including energy use, consumption and efficiency. This international standard applies to all organization types and sizes, regardless of their geographical, cultural and social conditions.

This standard has a high level of compatibility with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, thus allowing for integration with these or other existing management systems.

The standard does not establish any energy performance requirements, but it does provide a set of requirements and support methodologies for organizations to set their objectives, continuously improving their performance.

The ISO 22000 – Food Safety Management System standard is based on the HACCP principles of the internationally recognised Codex Alimentarius. The focus of this standard is food safety at every stage of the supply chain.

Despite only aspects of food safety being addressed, this standard suggests that the methodology used is also introduced to address ethical and consumer-awareness issues.

An organization certified by this standard demonstrates to the market that it has a food safety management system which is capable of supplying safe products or products which are safe to the consumer when used as intended, in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements, as well as with customers’ requirements related to food safety.

The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a preventive food safety control system which is applicable at any stage of the food chain and which is based on seven principles:

1. Hazard analysis
2. Determination of critical control points (CCPs)
3. Establishment of critical limits for each CCP
4. Establishment of monitoring procedures for CCPs
5. Establishment of corrective actions to be taken when a CCP is outside critical limits
6. Establishment of systems for recording and archiving data which document these principles and their assessment
7. Establishment of verification procedures which demonstrate that the HACCP system operates effectively

The Codex Alimentarius follows the food chain from primary production to the end consumer, defining the hygiene conditions needed for the production of safe and adequate food for consumption, and establishes the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) methodology as well as Guidelines for its Application.

The BRCGS emerged to harmonize food safety standards across the supply chain, and is currently recognized in both food and non-food categories.

It is common for the BRCGS certification to be a mandatory requirement for the main retailers, industry and organizations that provide services related to food.

The BRCGS standards provided by APCER are:

Certification according to the BRC standards is a service provided through the Quality Austria partnership, under its accreditation.

For services carried out under Quality Austria (QA) accreditation, the handling of complaints and appeals follows the procedures defined exclusively by this entity. If you wish to submit an appeal or a complaint related to activities certified under QA accreditation, you should consult the corresponding process on the Quality Austria website through this link. The information provided by QA outlines in detail the steps, responsibilities, and the principles of confidentiality and impartiality applied.