Conflict of interest: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)
A conflict of interest (French: conflit d'intérêts) is a situation in which a personal, commercial or financial interest could compromise, or appear to compromise, the objectivity of an auditor or a certification body. In ISO 53001 certification it must be identified and removed before the audit takes place.
Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026
In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit
Typical cases are well known: an auditor who recently worked for the audited organisation, advised it, or has a family or financial tie to it; a certification body linked to a consultancy that built the system. ISO/IEC 17021-1 provides for cooling-off periods and declarations of interest.
The audited organisation can also report an undeclared link and ask for a different auditor. Suspicion alone justifies a review, because the appearance of objectivity matters as much as objectivity itself. The impartiality page describes the safeguards; the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard sets the subject of the audit.
The two-year cooling-off period
Gardiant Certification applies a cooling-off period of two years: an auditor who has advised or worked for an organisation cannot audit it during that time. The same logic extends to the people who take certification decisions, who step aside from any file to which they have a link, and these situations fall within the oversight of the impartiality committee.
See also
- Impartiality: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Impartiality (French: *impartialité*) means that a certification body assesses and decides objectively, without its judgements being swayed by commercial, financial or personal interests.
- Certification body: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)A certification body (French: *organisme certificateur*) is an independent entity that audits an organisation's management system and decides, on the basis of the results, whether to grant, maintain or withdraw a certificate.
- Internal audit: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)An internal audit (French: *audit interne*) is one the organisation conducts itself, or has conducted on its behalf, to check that its SDG management system follows its own rules and the standard and is effectively implemented.