New public guidance from ASI on strengthening integrity in certification practices

Assurance Services International (ASI) has published a public guidance document, Integrity Scenarios, Red Flags & Risk Mitigation Measures. This comprehensive guide is designed to enhance the integrity of certification practices across various sectors by providing practical insights and tools to combat fraud and corruption. 

The document builds upon the findings of a 2024 analysis of the certification landscape in China, a project initiated and funded by FSC with technical execution by ASI. Further refinement and validation were conducted through two calibration workshops with certification bodies in early 2025, co-convened by FSC and ASI. 

“Strengthening the integrity of certification systems is a shared responsibility,” said Evi Mateboer, Integrity Director of ASI. “This guidance document is a testament to our collaborative efforts with FSC to provide actionable intelligence that can help certification bodies identify and mitigate risks, ultimately ensuring more credible and fraud-resistant assurance processes.” 

Key areas addressed in the guidance: 

• Auditor recruitment: Identifying and mitigating risks related to false application information, undeclared conflicts of interest, and unethical auditor practices.
• Client acquisition: Addressing issues such as consultancy malpractice, internal pressures leading to ‘easy audits,’ and impartiality concerns.
• Audit planning: Highlighting red flags for consultancy interference, conflicts of interest, bribery attempts, and information leakage.
• Onsite auditing: Providing indicators for bribery, client efforts to hide workers or commit documentation fraud, and ‘ghost’₁ or ‘breeze’₂ audits.
• Audit reporting: Detailing measures such as robust report checking processes with organizational separation between auditors and checkers, verification of evidence against online information and previous audits, and continuous monitoring of auditor submission times and finding patterns to identify potential anomalies. 

The Public Guidance: Integrity Scenarios, Red Flags & Mitigation Measures June 2025 is now available to the public and is expected to be a valuable resource for certification bodies, auditors, and other stakeholders committed to ethical and reliable assurance practices.  

Read the full guidance here: Integrity Scenarios, Red Flags & Risk Mitigation Measures (PDF). 

This article was originally posted on ASI’s website. 

1 Ghost audit: Occurs when a certification body claims to have performed an audit of a certificate holder, but in reality, the audit has never occurred. The certification body creates (falsifies) all the necessary documentation that confirms the certificate holder’s compliance with the standard. 

2 Breeze audit: Occurs when an auditor claims to have performed an audit of a certificate holder, but in reality, the audit was performed in a collusive manner with the certificate holder to ensure no non-conformities are issued. The auditor simply creates (falsifies) all the necessary documentation that confirms the certificate holder’s compliance with the standard.