Appeals against certification decisions

An applicant or holder of certification cannot appeal against a Certification Officer issuing a ‘Minded to…’ notice to the Scheme Client under section 10.4 of the Scheme Rules until such time as the Certification Officer has reached a final decision.

An Appeal against a Certification Officer’s decision shall initially be considered by that Certification Officer to determine whether or not new information or objective evidence is disclosed by the Appeal that could cause the Certification Officer to review the decision appealed.

Thereafter, the appeal shall be considered by a Senior Certification Officer, Chief Certification Officer or Chief Executive. All appeals shall be acknowledged in writing by the person handling the appeal within a maximum of two weeks, and will say who is dealing with the appeal and when appellant can expect a reply. A determination of the appeal should be provided within four weeks. If this is not possible because, for example, an investigation has not been fully completed, a progress report will be provided to the appellant with an indication of when a determination of the appeal will be completed.

Where appropriate the person handling the appeal should describe the action taken to investigate the Certification Officer’s decision, the conclusions from the investigation, and any action taken as a result of the appeal.

If the appellant remains dissatisfied, they can ask to refer their appeal to our Certification Panel who can review the Certification Officer’s decision. The members will have industry or technical competence in the relevant product category, will be independent from the Age Check Certification Scheme and their decision on the merits of the appeal will be considered as final.

The Panel shall only be able to consider the evidence available to the Certification Officer at the time of the decision. If additional evidence is required or provided, this may result in the decision being remitted to the Certification Officer for re-evaluation.

The Panel may:

1. uphold any final decision of the Certification Officer;
2. remit any final decision of the Certification Officer back to them with directions to obtain or consider additional evidence; and/or
3. revoke any final decision of the Certification Officer.

In order to submit an appeal, please complete the form below.