1 Purpose

In order to ensure that the GFS to carry out certification work is fair and accurate, to protect the interests of the applicant and the certification commissioner to develop this procedure.

2 Scope

2.1 Organisations and individuals related to GFS certification services related to GFS certification business appeals, complaints, disputes.

2.2 The following cases are not within the scope of acceptance:

2.2.1 Appeals, complaints, disputes that have been subject to legal proceedings.

2.2.2 Appeals, complaints and disputes arising from civil and economic disputes between the applicant and the certified supplier.

2.2.3 Appeals, complaints and disputes beyond the scope of GFS business.

2.2.4 Appeals, complaints and disputes in which the disputing parties have reached a mediation agreement and have implemented it, and there are no new circumstances or reasons.

2.2.5 Appeals, complaints and disputes that do not comply with national laws and regulations.

2.2.6 Appeals, complaints and disputes with incomplete evidence.

2.2.7 Appeals, complaints and disputes that have been dealt with by the relevant authorities.

3 Responsibilities

3.l The Customer Service Department is responsible for registering, investigating/processing, communicating and filing appeals, complaints and disputes against the organisation or the supplier (certification principal) (Customer Service).

3.2 The Customer Service Department is responsible for registering, investigating/processing, communicating and filing records of appeals, complaints and disputes of audit team members; the Quality Department is responsible for assisting the Customer Service Department in investigating and processing auditor's appeals, complaints and disputes and related management activities.

3.3 The Quality Department and the Customer Service Department are responsible for the investigation and handling activities of appeals, complaints and disputes specifically and report to the Managers' Representative.

3.4 The Appeal, Complaint and Dispute Committee is responsible for organising the relevant departments to investigate and analyse the causes and to propose a handling plan.

3.5 The Appeal, Complaint and Dispute Committee is responsible for the supervision and management of this procedure.

3.6 Major appeals, complaints and disputes shall be handled by the Appeal, Complaint and Dispute Committee (ACDC), which is responsible for the relevant departments and personnel to form a Appeal and Complaint Handling Group, to investigate and analyse the causes and to propose a handling plan, which shall be validated by the ACDC, decided and approved by the Managing Director of the GFS, who shall be accountable to the Agency Management Committee.

3.7 GFS shall be responsible for all decisions at all levels of the appeal, complaint and dispute handling process. In order to demonstrate impartiality, the relevant persons involved in the appeals, complaints and disputes and those related to the accreditation decision shall be recused from the appeal and complaint handling process.

4 Procedures

4.1 Appeals

4.1.1 Appeal is a formal expression of dissatisfaction by the applicant with the GFS's certification decision or activities related to the certification decision (e.g., on-site sampling ratios, etc.).

4.1.2 If the appellant disagrees with the certification decision of the certification body or the on-site sampling ratio, etc., the appellant may file an appeal with the certification body within 10 days of the notification of the decision, or the certified supplier may file an appeal if he/she has any doubts about the matters related to the GFS certification services.

4.1.3 The filing, investigation and decision of the appeal shall not result in any discriminatory behaviour against the complainant.

4.1.4 Appeals shall be submitted in writing to the GFS Customer Service Department and Quality Department.

4.1.5 GFS will respond in writing to received appeals, send a Notice of Acceptance of appeals, Complaints and Disputes, conduct timely investigation and processing, and collect and verify all necessary information to determine the validity of the appeal.

4.1.6 The appeals- handling process should include at least the following elements and methods:

a) An outline of the process for receiving, validating and investigating the appeal, and for deciding what actions need to be taken in response to it, taking into account the results of previous similar appeals;

b) Tracking and recording appeals, including actions undertaken to resolve them;

c) Ensuring that any appropriate corrective and corrective actions are taken.

d) Record the above to form a 《Record of Receipt of appeals, Complaints and Disputes》.

4.1.7 The certification body shall ensure that the persons engaged in the appeals-handling process are different from those who carried out the audits and made the certification decisions. And The certification body shall give formal notice to the appellant of the end of the appeals-handling process. GFS shall notify the appellant in writing of the outcome of the process through the 《Notification of Results of Appeals, Complaints, and Disputes》 within thirty (30) days.

4.1.8 If the appellant is not satisfied with the result of the GFS's handling, he/she can directly file another appeal to the GFS Management Committee, and the GFS Management Committee will handle it. If the appellant still has objections, he/she can directly appeal to CNCA.

4.1.9 If the certification client believes that GFS has seriously infringed upon his/her legitimate rights and interests, he/she can directly file a complaint with the certification regulatory authorities at all levels.

4.2 Complaints

4.2.1 Complaint is a formal complaint made by the complainant against the GFS Certification Service. The complainant shall provide the necessary evidence and leads for investigation.

4.2.2 Relevant organisations and individuals may submit complaints about the ethics, conduct, competence, and quality of GFS Certification work of GFS Auditors and staff.

4.2.3 Complaints shall be submitted, investigated and decided without any discrimination against the complainant.

4.2.4 GFS shall maintain the confidentiality of the Complainant and the subject matter of the Complaint during the process of making a decision on the Complaint.

4.2.5 GFS gives a written reply to the received complaints, sends the《Notice of Acceptance of Appeals, Complaints and Disputes》 , and carries out investigation and processing in a timely manner. It shall be confirmed whether the complaint is related to the certification activities for which GFS is responsible, and shall be handled when it is confirmed to be related. If the complaint is related to the certified customer, GFS shall consider the effectiveness of the certified management system when investigating the complaint. For valid complaints against a certified customer, the complaint handling process shall inform the customer of the complaint at an appropriate time to facilitate the customer's co-operation.

4.2.6 Upon receipt of a complaint, the Customer Service Department or the Complaints Working Group shall be responsible for collecting and verifying all information necessary to validate the complaint, and shall have the right to request that the certified organisation provide all information and records relating to the complaint, its handling and the corrective action taken. The complaints- handling process shall include at least the following elements and methods:

a) an outline of the process for receiving, validating, investigating the complaint, and for deciding what actions need to be taken in response to it;

b) Tracking and recording complaints, including actions taken to resolve them;

c) ensuring that any appropriate correction and corrective action are taken.

d) Record the above to form a《Record of Receipt of appeals, Complaints and Disputes》.

4.2.7 The decision on the complaint shall be made by, or reviewed and approved by, a person unrelated to the subject matter of the complaint, and shall be communicated to the complainant.GFS shall notify the complainant of the outcome of the process in writing through the Notice of Outcome of appeals, Complaints, and Disputes within 30 days.

4.2.8 GFS shall decide jointly with the licensed client and the complainant whether the complaint matter should be made public and, in deciding to make it public, jointly determine the extent of the publicity.

4.2.9 If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of the GFS, he/she can submit another complaint directly to the GFS Management Committee, which will handle the complaint. If the complainant still has objections, he/she can directly complain to CNCA.

4.2.10 If the certification client believes that the GFS seriously infringes on its legitimate rights and interests, it can directly go to all levels of certification regulatory authorities to complain.

4.2.11 For anonymous complaints, GFS shall record and retain them as reference for work improvement. For signed complaints, GFS shall provide a written response and investigate and handle the complaint in a timely manner. The department or individual handling the complaint shall investigate and analyse the complaint and the reasons for the complaint, including any tendencies in the GFS management system, and take appropriate measures and reply to the complainant within 30 days of receipt of the complaint if there are no special reasons. These measures may be:

l  Restore certification as soon as possible;

l   Prevent recurrence;

l   Review the effectiveness of the measures taken;

l   Documentation of relevant measures.

4.2.12 Complaints, replies and related measures taken shall be submitted to the GFS manager's representative for approval in a timely manner, and if necessary, to the General Manager of GFS for approval.

4.2.13 After the complaint has been dealt with, the relevant departments and personnel/Customer Service Department shall file the relevant information in a timely manner.

4.2.14 If a complaint is lodged with the Management Committee, GFS shall actively co-operate with the Management Committee in the investigation and handling of the complaint.

4.2.15 The certified organisation shall provide records of corrective actions taken in response to the respective complaints at any time upon request by GFS.

4.2.16 GFS shall decide jointly with the Licensed Customer and the Complainant whether the complaint should be made public and, if so, jointly determine the extent of the publicity.

4.3 Disputes

4.3.1 Dispute is a formal disagreement by the Submitter with a decision related to GFS Certification Services.

4.3.2 The submitter has the right to appeal to other interested parties if the submitter still disagrees with the final decision of GFS.

4.4 Handling of Appeals, Complaints and Disputes

4.4.1 Upon receipt of a complaint, appeal or dispute, the GFS Complaints Committee and the relevant departments and personnel will form a complaints handling team to jointly investigate and analyse the cause, confirm the acceptance or otherwise, and notify the complainant by filling out a Notice of Acceptance of Complaints, appeals and Disputes or a Notice of Inadmissibility of Complaints, appeals and Disputes. After the complaint, appeal and dispute are accepted, the appeal Handling Panel organises an investigation and processing immediately according to the actual situation, and the person who is appointed to handle the complaint, appeal and dispute shall contact the complainant in a timely manner and notify him/her of his/her contact information, so that he/she can keep himself/herself informed of the situation at any time.

4.4.2 Investigate the situation of the accepted appeals, complaints and disputes, analyse the reasons and formulate relevant measures to deal with them, and fill in the Record of Acceptance of appeals, Complaints and Disputes. After approval by the appeal and Complaint Committee, it shall be reported to the representative of GFS manager, and major issues shall be reported to the General Manager for approval and implementation.

4.4.3 If there are no special circumstances, the results of the handling of complaints, appeals and disputes shall be notified to the person concerned in the form of "Notification of Results of Handling of appeals, Complaints and Disputes" within 30 days of the receipt of the complaint, appeal or dispute, and the related parties and relevant departments of GFS shall be notified as necessary, so as to enable timely preventive and corrective measures to be taken.

4.4.4 Changes shall be made to the GFS operating procedures in accordance with the procedures when necessary.

4.4.5 The GFS appeal, Complaint and Dispute Work Ledger shall be completed after the handling of appeals, complaints and disputes, and relevant records shall be collated and filed by the Customer Service Department.

4.4.6 Each year the GFS Complaints Committee shall submit a report on the handling of appeals, complaints and disputes to the GFS Management Review to assess the effectiveness of the GFS in handling appeals, complaints and disputes

5 Records

《Notice of Acceptance of Appeals, Complaints and Disputes 》GFS-SP-05-01R

《Notice of Inadmissibility of Appeals, Complaints and Disputes》 GFS-SP-05-02R

《Record of Acceptance of Appeals, Complaints and Disputes 》GFS-SP-05-03R

《Appeals, Complaints and Disputes Work Ledger 》GFS-SP-05-04R

《Notification of Results of Handling of Appeals, Complaints and Disputes》GFS-SP-05-05R