I-A. 5. 4. Environmental management system audit

The management review shall address the possible need for changes to policy, objectives and other elements of the environmental management system, in the light of environmental management system audit results, changing circumstances and the commitment to continual improvement.

initial environmental review if appropriate, environmental management system, environmental audit and its results and the environmental statement;

technical defects in the environmental review, or audit method, or environmental management system, or any other relevant process,

have the environmental management system and audit programme verified in accordance with the requirements of Annex V, point 5. 6;

The organisation shall establish and maintain (a) programme(s) and procedures for periodic environmental management system audits to be carried out, in order to

Organisations may wish to address different audiences or interested parties with the information generated by its environmental management system and use only selected information from the environmental statement.

The required quality assurance and control procedures may be implemented in the context of the EU EcoManagement and audit scheme (EMAS) or other environmental management systems, including ISO 14001:1996 ("Environmental management systems - Specification with guidance for use").

have the environmental review, if appropriate, management system, audit procedure and environmental statement examined to verify that they meet the relevant requirements of this Regulation and have the environmental statement validated by the environmental verifier to ensure it meets the requirements of Annex III;

The transparency and credibility of organisations implementing environmental management systems are enhanced when their management system, audit programme and environmental statement are examined to verify that they meet the relevant requirements of this Regulation and when the environmental statement and its subsequent updates are validated by accredited environmental verifiers.

I-A.5.4. Environmental management system audit

'environmental audit' shall mean a management tool comprising a systematic, documented, periodic and objective evaluation of the performance of the organisation, management system and processes designed to protect the environment with the aim of:

The documentation to be examined in advance of the visit shall include basic information about the organisation and activities there, the environmental policy and programme, the description of the environmental management system in operation in the organisation, details of the environmental review or audit carried out, the report on that review or audit and on any corrective action taken afterwards, and the draft environmental statement.

Preparation shall include familiarisation with activities of the organisation and with the environmental management system established there and review of the findings and conclusions of previous audits.

Organisations shall be able to demonstrate that the management system and the audit procedures address the actual environmental performance of the organisation with respect to the aspects identified from Annex VI.

Commission Decision of 16 April 1997 on the recognition of the international standard ISO 14001:1996 and the European standard EN ISO 14001:1996, establishing specification for environmental management systems, in accordance with Article 12 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 of 29 June 1993, allowing voluntary participation by companies in the industrial sector in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (Text with EEA relevance)

have the environmental management system and audit programme verified in accordance with the requirements of Annex V, point 5.6;

"Verification" - the assessment (audit) carried out by the environmental verifier to ensure that an organisation's environmental policy, management system and audit procedure(s) conform to the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 761/2001.

This is to ensure that an audit programme is developed which provides management with the information it needs to review the organisation's environmental performance and the effectiveness of the environmental management system, and be able to demonstrate that they are in control.

"environmental audit" shall mean a management tool comprising a systematic, documented, periodic and objective evaluation of the performance of the organisation, management system and processes designed to protect the environment with the aim of:

Whereas the international standard ISO 14001:1996 and the European standard EN ISO 14001:1996 are identical and include specification for environmental management systems and audit corresponding to certain requirements of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93;

Member States shall encourage establishments or undertakings which carry out treatment operations to introduce certified environmental management systems in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001 allowing voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS)(18).

COMMISSION DECISION of 16 April 1997 on the recognition of the international standard ISO 14001:1996 and the European standard EN ISO 14001:1996, establishing specification for environmental management systems, in accordance with Article 12 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 of 29 June 1993, allowing voluntary participation by companies in the industrial sector in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (Text with EEA relevance)

Whereas Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 establishes that companies implementing national, European or international standards for environmental management systems and audits and certified, according to appropriate certification procedures, as complying with those standards shall be considered as meeting the corresponding requirements of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93, provided that, in particular, the standards and procedures are recognized by the Commission acting in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 19 of the same Regulation;