How do you choose a certification body when you transfer?

Choose the body that can issue an accredited certificate for the standard and the sector you already hold, and that will tell you the scope, the timing, and the price before you are committed. Accreditation, scope, and the calendar of your current certificate decide whether a transfer is possible. The logo comes after those three.

What should you check first?

• The issuing body is accredited to ISO/IEC 17021-1 by an accreditation body you can look up.
• The accreditation scope names your standard and, where your certificate has sectors or food categories, names those too.
• You can open the accreditation certificate yourself, rather than relying on a badge.
• The offer states the expiry date the new certificate will carry.
• You are told who audits and who makes the certification decision.

SMG publishes that record. IAS accredits SMG under MSCB-153. The certificate of accreditation and the standards it covers are on the partner page. IAF Consultancy is the auditing firm. SMG issues the certificate. IAF Consultancy is not associated with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

What should the service look like during a transfer?

A transfer runs on the remaining life of the current certificate. You want a written quote quickly, a review that uses the reports you already have, and a direct answer if the file cannot transfer. You also want the next surveillance date in the same offer, so the move does not buy a surprise visit with no plan.

Price belongs in that offer. A body that will not price the work until the old certificate is cancelled is asking you to open a gap. That risk is described in whether a transfer leaves a gap. What the review actually reads is in what a pre-transfer review checks.

How do you test this against that list?

Send the application and choose Transfer from another body. The reply is a written offer: scope, timing, and price. Compare it with the certificate you hold and with the checks above. If the open question is whether the certificate can transfer at all, start with transfer or start over.