The integrity of the Accreditation Body of Montenegro (ATCG) forms the cornerstone of its operations and underpins the reliability and credibility of the accreditation system in Montenegro. ATCG performs the tasks within its mandate in a lawful, professional and responsible manner, ensuring independence, impartiality, objectivity and the protection of confidential information, thereby safeguarding the reputation of the institution and strengthening public trust in its work.

Impartiality, as one of the key requirements of the international standard ISO/IEC 17011 governing the operation of national accreditation bodies, represents an essential element of institutional integrity and a prerequisite for objective and credible decision-making. To this end, ATCG establishes and applies clear organisational, procedural and ethical mechanisms to prevent conflicts of interest, eliminate undue influence, and ensure consistent, transparent and objective conduct and decision-making in all processes within its competence, particularly in accreditation procedures.

The strengthening of ATCG’s integrity is further ensured through a risk management system and the implementation of the Integrity Plan, which provides for the systematic identification and analysis of risks in the areas of governance and management, human resources policy, financial operations, impartiality, accreditation procedures, information and data protection, and anti-corruption, as well as the definition of measures for their effective management, elimination or reduction to an acceptable level.

Independence and Impartiality

In accordance with the law, the founding act and the Statute, ATCG is an independent, non-profit organisation founded by the Government of Montenegro.

The organisational structure, governance arrangements and decision-making system are established in a manner that ensures ATCG’s institutional and operational independence and prevents conflict of interest. Further information on the organisational structure is available in the section “About the Accreditation Body of Montenegro / Organisational Structure”.

The mandate and responsibilities of ATCG are clearly distinguished from those of other state authorities. The core activity of ATCG is to assess the competence of conformity assessment bodies to carry out specific conformity assessment activities. In order to safeguard its independence and impartiality, ATCG does not provide consultancy services to such bodies, holds no ownership, managerial or other financial interests in them, and does not act as their competitor. ATCG does not suggest or promote that the engagement of any person or specific consultancy activity could make the accreditation process simpler, faster or less costly.

ATCG’s policies and procedures ensure non-discriminatory and transparent access to accreditation for all applicants. Accreditation is not conditional upon the type of body (public or private), its size, membership in associations, or the number of already accredited conformity assessment bodies.

ATCG has established and continuously applies systemic mechanisms to safeguard its independence and impartiality. These mechanisms include, but are not limited to:

• The commitment of top management to the principle of impartiality, formalised through the adopted Statement of Top Management on Impartiality, which is publicly available at the end of this page.
• The obligation of permanent staff, members of governing, advisory and technical bodies, as well as externally engaged assessors and technical experts, to act objectively and free from any commercial, financial or other pressures that could compromise their impartiality. They sign statements of impartiality and commit to the ATCG Code of Ethics, while contracts for engagement clearly define their obligations related to the avoidance of conflicts of interest. The Code of Ethics is adopted by top management and publicly available.
• The right of the conformity assessment body under accreditation assessment to indicate, in a timely manner, any potential conflict of interest and to request changes to the composition of the ATCG assessment team. Following each on-site assessment, the assessed body is invited to evaluate the performance of the assessment team through a questionnaire, further strengthening transparency and accountability.
• The systematic identification, review and management of relationships with related bodies, ensuring that their activities or any shared resources do not compromise the confidentiality, objectivity or impartiality of ATCG’s work. Such relationships are documented and subject to continuous monitoring, and potential conflicts of interest are assessed and, where necessary, mitigated. The document entitled Analysis of ATCG’s Relationships with Related Bodies is publicly available.
• Continuous risk management in accordance with procedure PR.07 Risk Management. ATCG identifies, analyses and evaluates risks to impartiality and other aspects of its work, and maintains and regularly updates a Risk Register. The Risk Register is submitted for consideration to interested parties and is subject to periodic review by top management. Where a risk to impartiality cannot be eliminated, ATCG will refrain from providing the relevant accreditation service. Procedure PR.07 Risk Management is available in the section “Documents / Procedures and Guidelines”.

An additional institutional mechanism for safeguarding independence and impartiality is the Accreditation Council, an advisory body composed of representatives of interested parties, which, inter alia, provides opinions on matters related to potential conflicts of interest and the preservation of ATCG’s independence and impartiality.

Confidentiality of Information

The protection of confidential information constitutes one of the key elements of the integrity of ATCG’s work. In accordance with applicable legislation and the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011, ATCG ensures the consistent protection of all information and data obtained during the accreditation process, as well as other information relevant to its activities that is designated as confidential in accordance with internal acts.

The obligation to maintain confidentiality applies to permanent staff, members of governing and expert bodies, as well as externally engaged assessors and technical experts. Confidential information may be disclosed to third parties only in cases and in the manner prescribed by law and the applicable ATCG procedures.

More detailed information on the protection of confidential data and the exercise of the right of access to information is available in the section “About the Accreditation Body of Montenegro / Transparency, Confidentiality and Access to Information”.

Integrity Plan

The Integrity Plan serves as a normative and managerial instrument through which ATCG establishes a system for the prevention of corruption and the management of risks to the legality, impartiality, objectivity and transparency of its work. Risks to the integrity of the institution are systematically identified, evaluated and documented, and measures, implementation deadlines and responsibilities are defined for their elimination or reduction to an acceptable level, with the aim of ensuring the professional, accountable and lawful performance of ATCG’s mandate.

The Integrity Plan covers key areas of operation, including leadership and governance, human resources policy, ethical and professional conduct of employees, financial management, the protection of documents and data, impartiality and anti-corruption.

The implementation of the Integrity Plan is subject to continuous monitoring and regular review, and an annual report on the implementation of the measures is submitted to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, as the competent authority, in accordance with applicable law.

The current ATCG Integrity Plan and the Report on the Implementation of the Integrity Plan for the previous year are publicly available at the end of this page.

• Statement of Top Management on Impartiality
• Code of Ethics
• Analysis of ATCG's relationships with Related Bodies, 12.12.2025
• Integrity Plan of ATCG for 2025-2026
• Report on the Implementation of the Integrity Plan (available only in mne language)