Dear Clients and Relevant Parties of NGV Intellectual Property Management System (IPMS) Certification:

To standardize certification activities for the Intellectual Property Management System (hereinafter referred to as IPMS), the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) has issued the new version of Rules for Intellectual Property Management System Certification (CNCA-IPMS-01:2026), which shall come into force on September 1, 2026 (the IPMS certification rules filed with CNCA by our institution shall be abolished simultaneously). Attached herewith are the full text and interpretation of the new Rules for your organization’s thorough review.

The new Rules are statutory documents that certification bodies and certified organizations must comply with. To facilitate your smooth transition to meet the requirements of the new Rules, ensure efficient follow-up certification activities and continuous validity of certification certificates, our institution has compiled relevant requirements of the new Rules for certification applicants/organizations and released them publicly to all certified clients. Your organization shall attach great importance to the relevant requirements and make preparations in advance. The specific requirements are as follows:

I. Certification Application

1. Eligibility Criteria for Filing a Certification Application (See Clause 5.1.2 of the Rules for details)

(1) Possess valid legal subject qualification within the validity period;

(2) Hold administrative permits prescribed by relevant laws and regulations (where applicable) within the validity period;

(3) Own intellectual property rights related to core business, have established an IPMS in accordance with certification standards, and maintain its operation for no less than three months;

(4) If the original IPMS certification certificate of the certified organization was suspended, cancelled or revoked by the original certification body due to the organization’s own reasons, a period of one year has elapsed (where applicable);

(5) If the certification body that issued the original IPMS certificate had its IPMS certification qualification revoked by CNCA, a period of three months has elapsed (where applicable);

(6) Not subject to an administrative order of production suspension and rectification at present;

(7) Not included in the List of Seriously Illegal and Untrustworthy Entities released via the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System and Credit China at present;

(8) No incidents of intellectual property infringement determined by judicial or administrative authorities within the past year;

(9) No administrative penalties related to intellectual property within the past year;

(10) Other applicable eligibility requirements.

2. Application Information and Documentation to Be Submitted (See Clause 5.1.3 of the Rules for details)

(1) Certification application, including the applicant’s name, address, certification standards adopted, applied certification scope, number of personnel covered by the certification scope, and outsourced processes affecting system effectiveness;

(2) Documents evidencing legal status; where the IPMS covers multiple legal entities, legal status certificates for each entity shall be provided;

(3) Administrative permits and qualification certificates required by intellectual property laws and regulations covering the applied certification scope;

(4) Information on quantity, type, legal status and ownership of intellectual property within the applied certification scope;

(5) Organizational structure and job responsibilities;

(6) Production/service workflows, shift arrangements, seasonal operation information, and all identified applicable legal obligations concerning intellectual property;

(7) Evidence that the IPMS has been in operation for at least three months;

(8) Intellectual property disputes occurring within the past year (where applicable);

(9) Other required supporting documents.

II. Signing of Certification Contract and Payment of Certification Fees (See Clause 5.3 of the Rules for details)

Your organization shall strictly perform corresponding obligations stipulated in the Certification Contract and pay certification fees directly to our institution or its branches; third-party payment is prohibited.

Note 1: Payment by the applicant’s superior entity (such as the group company, public institution, social organization or government agency to which the applicant belongs) or subordinate entity shall be accepted.

Note 2: Where an individual industrial and commercial household acts as the certification applicant, the operator may pay certification fees to our institution. For all other types of applicants, individuals are not allowed to settle certification fees.

III. Preparation of Audit Documentation (See Clauses 5.1.3 and 5.6.2.4 of the Rules for details)

When submitting the certification application and prior to each surveillance audit, your organization shall provide complete, authentic and valid relevant information and documents as required by our institution. If inconsistencies or falsification between submitted application materials and actual operations are identified during Stage 1 audit, our institution shall terminate all certification activities.

IV. Audit Arrangement Requirements (See Clauses 5.4 and 5.6–5.9 of the Rules for details)

On-site audits shall cover corresponding products/services, shifts and multi-site locations in line with NGV’s audit programme planning requirements for your organization.

Your organization shall confirm the audit plan in advance and ensure normal production/service operations at audit sites, i.e., core links of product/service realization involving key intellectual property within the certification scope are fully operational.

Audit duration is calculated in man-days, with one man-day defined as 8 working hours. If the actual daily working hours of the applicant are less than 8 hours, the number of on-site audit days shall be extended to meet the required audit duration.

Initial Audit: Comprises Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits. The interval between the two stages shall be no less than 5 days and no more than 6 months. If a longer interval is required, the Stage 1 audit shall be repeated.

Surveillance Audit: The first surveillance audit shall be conducted within 12 months from the date of certificate issuance, and the second within 24 months from the date of certificate issuance. The interval between two surveillance audits shall not exceed 12 months. Except for recertification years, one surveillance audit shall be conducted per calendar year.

Recertification Audit: Organizations intending to retain valid certification certificates shall submit a recertification application to our institution three months prior to certificate expiry. The recertification on-site audit must be completed before the original certificate expires. If major nonconformities are identified, rectification and verification of corrective actions shall also be completed prior to expiry; otherwise recertification registration will not be granted, and a new initial audit will be required to obtain a certificate. If a recertification decision cannot be finalized before the original certificate expires, the original certificate shall automatically lapse upon expiry. The expiry date of the newly issued recertification certificate shall not exceed the original certificate expiry date plus three years.

Special Audit: In the event of complaints, intellectual property disputes, scope changes related to the certified organization’s IPMS certification scope, or follow-up reviews of suspended certificates, our institution will arrange audits with short advance notice after assessing potential risks to certification validity.

V. Cooperation and Implementation During Audits (See Clauses 5.5 and 5.10 of the Rules for details)

Opening and Closing Meetings: The organization’s top management and heads of IPMS functional departments shall attend the opening and closing meetings per the audit schedule. If the top management is unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances, written authorization (stating reasons for absence) shall be submitted to our institution in advance to appoint another senior management representative to attend on their behalf.

Face-to-Face Interview: The organization’s top management shall attend a face-to-face interview with the audit team on-site. Focused review will be conducted on the organization’s formulated intellectual property policy and objectives, as well as the top management’s personal participation and promotion of IPMS implementation. Our institution will retain photographic or audio-visual records. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in non-approval of certification.

Circumstances Leading to Audit Termination: The audit shall be terminated if any of the following occurs:

(1) Failure of your organization to cooperate with audit activities, rendering the audit unfeasible;

(2) Absence of the top management or authorized senior management representative from the opening and closing meetings;

(3) Material discrepancies between your organization’s actual operations and submitted application materials;

(4) Other circumstances preventing completion of audit procedures.

Nonconformities and Verification: Where prohibited intellectual property acts are identified during certification audits, a Major Nonconformity shall be raised. Prohibited intellectual property acts include conducts specified in the Provisions on Prohibiting Acts of Abusing Intellectual Property Rights to Eliminate or Restrict Competition, whereby business operators eliminate/restrict competition or conclude monopoly agreements by abusing dominant market positions, utilizing joint ventures, or manipulating the formulation and implementation of standards while exercising intellectual property rights.

Your organization shall complete rectification of nonconformities and pass verification by the audit team within the specified time limit. Failure to complete rectification will result in our institution declining to grant, maintain or renew certification.

VI. Post-Certification Maintenance Requirements (See Clauses 5.12.7, 6.1, 7.2–7.4 and 10.5 of the Rules for details)

Sustained Effective Operation of the Management System: After obtaining management system certification, your organization shall maintain continuous effective operation of the corresponding system and pay close attention to conditions triggering certificate suspension (e.g., failure to complete surveillance audits on schedule, non-compliance with regulatory requirements, expired permits, see Clause 7.2 for details) and revocation (e.g., expiry of suspension period, inclusion in the List of Seriously Illegal and Untrustworthy Entities, see Clause 7.3 for details). Our institution will issue suspension/revocation decisions within 5 working days after investigation and verification. Your organization shall closely monitor its compliance status to maintain continuous certificate validity.

Proper Use of Certification Certificates and Marks: Certified organizations may use the IPMS certification certificate and mark only while the certificate remains valid and shall accept supervision by our institution. Use of the certificate and mark is prohibited once the certificate is suspended, revoked or cancelled. The IPMS certification mark and certificate information may only be printed on separable product packaging (packaging that can be removed without disassembling, breaking or damaging the product). Chinese text shall be added to indicate that the organization holds IPMS certification and state the name of the certification body, to avoid public confusion with product and service certification marks.

Timely Disclosure of Updated Information: Promptly notify our institution of relevant changes as stipulated in the Certification Contract, including but not limited to: major organizational restructuring; changes or expiry of relevant qualifications; illegal acts resulting in listing on the List of Seriously Illegal and Untrustworthy Entities via the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System or Credit China; non-conforming products within the certification scope identified in national random supervision inspections.

Retention of Certification Records: Retain complete certification records for the full validity period of the certificate, including at minimum: Certification Contract, audit plan, attendance sheets for opening and closing meetings, nonconformity reports with root cause analysis and corrective actions, full audit reports, suspension/revocation notices (where applicable).

The new Rules set clearer obligations for both parties. Please read and fully understand the relevant requirements, and cooperate with our institution to complete all audit and certification activities. Meanwhile, our institution will continue to provide support via the official website, WeChat official account, training sessions and other channels to assist your organization in smoothly complying with the new Rules and jointly improve the operational effectiveness of your management system.

For inquiries or further interpretation of the new Rules, please contact NGV Marketing Department or local branches:

Head Office Tel: 010-87531300

Head Office E-mail: Business@ngv.org.cn

Contact information for branches is available on our official website.

We appreciate your long-term trust and support!

Sincerely,

Beijing NGV Certification Center Co., Ltd.