Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

1. ORGANISATIONAL AND GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

1.1. Legal status and organisational structure

1.1.1. Each notified body shall be established under the national law of a Member State, or under the law of a third country with which the Union has concluded an agreement in this respect. Its legal personality and status shall be fully documented. Such documentation shall include information about ownership and the legal or natural persons exercising control over the notified body.

1.1.2. If the notified body is a legal entity that is part of a larger organisation, the activities of that organisation as well as its organisational structure and governance, and the relationship with the notified body shall be clearly documented. In such cases, the requirements of Section 1.2 are applicable to both the notified body and the organisation to which it belongs.

1.1.3. If a notified body wholly or partly owns legal entities established in a Member State or in a third country or is owned by another legal entity, the activities and responsibilities of those entities, as well as their legal and operational relationships with the notified body, shall be clearly defined and documented. Personnel of those entities performing conformity assessment activities under this Regulation shall be subject to the applicable requirements of this Regulation.

1.1.4. The organisational structure, allocation of responsibilities, reporting lines and operation of the notified body shall be such that they ensure that there is confidence in the performance by the notified body and in the results of the conformity assessment activities it conducts.

1.1.5. The notified body shall clearly document its organisational structure and the functions, responsibilities and authority of its top-level management and of other personnel who may have an influence upon the performance by the notified body and upon the results of its conformity assessment activities.

1.1.6. The notified body shall identify the persons in top-level management that have overall authority and responsibility for each of the following:

• the provision of adequate resources for conformity assessment activities;

• the development of procedures and policies for the operation of the notified body;

• the supervision of implementation of the procedures, policies and quality management systems of the notified body;

• the supervision of the notified body's finances;

• the activities and decisions taken by the notified body, including contractual agreements;

• the delegation of authority to personnel and/or committees, where necessary, for the performance of defined activities;

• the interaction with the authority responsible for notified bodies and the obligations regarding communications with other competent authorities, the Commission and other notified bodies.

1.2. Independence and impartiality

1.2.1. The notified body shall be a third-party body that is independent of the manufacturer of the device in relation to which it performs conformity assessment activities. The notified body shall also be independent of any other economic operator having an interest in the device as well as of any competitors of the manufacturer. This does not preclude the notified body from carrying out conformity assessment activities for competing manufacturers.

1.2.2. The notified body shall be organised and operated so as to safeguard the independence, objectivity and impartiality of its activities. The notified body shall document and implement a structure and procedures for safeguarding impartiality and for promoting and applying the principles of impartiality throughout its organisation, personnel and assessment activities. Such procedures shall provide for the identification, investigation and resolution of any case in which a conflict of interest may arise, including involvement in consultancy services in the field of devices prior to taking up employment with the notified body. The investigation, outcome and its resolution shall be documented.

1.2.3. The notified body, its top-level management and the personnel responsible for carrying out the conformity assessment tasks shall not:

(a)

be the designer, manufacturer, supplier, installer, purchaser, owner or maintainer of devices which they assess, nor the authorised representative of any of those parties. Such restriction shall not preclude the purchase and use of assessed devices that are necessary for the operations of the notified body and the conduct of the conformity assessment, or the use of such devices for personal purposes;

(b)

be involved in the design, manufacture or construction, marketing, installation and use, or maintenance of the devices for which they are designated, nor represent the parties engaged in those activities;

(c)

engage in any activity that may conflict with their independence of judgement or integrity in relation to conformity assessment activities for which they are designated;

(d)

offer or provide any service which may jeopardise the confidence in their independence, impartiality or objectivity. In particular, they shall not offer or provide consultancy services to the manufacturer, its authorised representative, a supplier or a commercial competitor as regards the design, construction, marketing or maintenance of devices or processes under assessment, and

(e)

be linked to any organisation which itself provides consultancy services as referred to in point (d). Such restriction does not preclude general training activities that are not client specific and that relate to regulation of devices or to related standards.

1.2.4. Involvement in consultancy services in the field of devices prior to taking up employment with a notified body shall be fully documented at the time of employment and potential conflicts of interest shall be monitored and resolved in accordance with this Annex. Personnel who were formerly employed by a specific client, or provided consultancy services in the field of devices to that specific client prior to taking up employment with a notified body, shall not be assigned for conformity assessment activities for that specific client or companies belonging to the same group for a period of three years.

1.2.5. The impartiality of notified bodies, of their top-level management and of the assessment personnel shall be guaranteed. The level of the remuneration of the top-level management and assessment personnel of a notified body and subcontractors, involved in assessment activities shall not depend on the results of the assessments. Notified bodies shall make publicly available the declarations of interest of their top-level management.

1.2.6. If a notified body is owned by a public entity or institution, independence and absence of any conflict of interest shall be ensured and documented between, on the one hand, the authority responsible for notified bodies and/or the competent authority and, on the other hand, the notified body.

1.2.7. The notified body shall ensure and document that the activities of its subsidiaries or subcontractors, or of any associated body, including the activities of its owners do not affect its independence, impartiality or the objectivity of its conformity assessment activities.

1.2.8. The notified body shall operate in accordance with a set of consistent, fair and reasonable terms and conditions, taking into account the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises as defined in Recommendation 2003/361/EC in relation to fees.

1.2.9. The requirements laid down in this Section in no way preclude exchanges of technical information and regulatory guidance between a notified body and a manufacturer applying for conformity assessment.

1.3. Confidentiality

1.3.1. The notified body shall have documented procedures in place ensuring that its personnel, committees, subsidiaries, subcontractors, and any associated body or personnel of external bodies respect the confidentiality of the information which comes into its possession during the performance of conformity assessment activities, except when disclosure is required by law.

1.3.2. The personnel of a notified body shall observe professional secrecy in carrying out their tasks under this Regulation or any provision of national law giving effect to it, except in relation to the authorities responsible for notified bodies, competent authorities for medical devices in the Member States or the Commission. Proprietary rights shall be protected. The notified body shall have documented procedures in place in respect of the requirements of this Section.

1.4. Liability

1.4.1. The notified body shall take out appropriate liability insurance for its conformity assessment activities, unless liability is assumed by the Member State in question in accordance with national law or that Member State is directly responsible for the conformity assessment.

1.4.2. The scope and overall financial value of the liability insurance shall correspond to the level and geographic scope of activities of the notified body and be commensurate with the risk profile of the devices certified by the notified body. The liability insurance shall cover cases where the notified body may be obliged to withdraw, restrict or suspend certificates.

1.5. Financial requirements

The notified body shall have at its disposal the financial resources required to conduct its conformity assessment activities within its scope of designation and related business operations. It shall document and provide evidence of its financial capacity and its long-term economic viability, taking into account, where relevant, any specific circumstances during an initial start-up phase.

1.6. Participation in coordination activities

1.6.1. The notified body shall participate in, or ensure that its assessment personnel is informed of, any relevant standardisation activities and in the activities of the notified body coordination group referred to in Article 49 and that its assessment and decision-making personnel are informed of all relevant legislation, guidance and best practice documents adopted in the framework of this Regulation.

1.6.2. The notified body shall take into consideration guidance and best practice documents.