Impartiality Statement

Paddeco Third Party Certification undertakes to manage impartiality and to ensure that the certification
activities undertaken are conducted in an impartial manner. The governance of Paddeco Third Party
Certification includes policies and procedures on impartiality.

Top management of Paddeco Third Party Certification is committed to ensuring impartiality of the
certification activities as stated in the Paddeco Third Party Certification Impartiality Policy. The
commitment to and understanding of the importance of impartiality within its certification activities is
made publicly available through this statement. This statement of understanding, and the supporting
procedures and processes, also confirm the Paddeco Third Party Certification commitment to managing
any conflict of interest and the ensuring of objectivity within its certification activities.

Paddeco Third Party Certification undertakes to act impartially in relation to its clients, applicants,
operatives, certified persons and approved/certified parties.

All Paddeco Third Party Certification policies and procedures for certification of persons are prepared
and designed to ensure a fair and consistent approach and application to all applicants, operatives and
certified persons.

Paddeco Third Party Certification commits to ensure that certification applications shall not be restricted on the grounds of undue financial or other limiting conditions, such as membership of an association or group. Paddeco Third Party Certification does not intentionally apply procedures or processes that may unfairly impede or inhibit access to the certification process by applicants and/or candidates.

Paddeco Third Party Certification does not permit commercial, financial or other pressures to
compromise its commitment to impartiality.

Paddeco Third Party Certification makes every effort to identify threats to its impartiality on an ongoing basis. This includes monitoring those threats or potential threats that arise or may arise from its
activities, from its related bodies, from its relationships or from the relationships of its personnel.
However, such relationships may not necessarily present a body with a threat to impartiality.

Note 1: A relationship that threatens the impartiality of Paddeco Third Party Certification may be based on ownership, governance, management, personnel, shared resources, finances, contracts, marketing
(including branding) and payment of a sales commission or other inducement for the referral of new
applicants, etc.

Note 2: Threats to impartiality can be either actual or perceived.

Note 3: A related body is one which is linked to the Paddeco Third Party Certification or its agents by
common ownership, in whole or part, and has common members of the board of directors, contractual
arrangements, common names, common staff, informal understanding or other means, such that the
related body has a vested interest in any certification decision or has a potential ability to influence the
process.

Paddeco Third Party Certification analyses, documents and eliminates or minimises the potential
conflicts of interest arising from its certification activities. All potential sources of conflict of interest that
are identified, whether they arise from within Paddeco Third Party Certification, such as assigning
responsibilities to personnel, or from the activities of other persons, bodies or organisations, shall be
considered.

The activities of Paddeco Third Party Certification are structured and managed so as to safeguard
impartiality. This includes the balanced involvement of interested parties.

In support of this impartiality policy, Paddeco Third Party Certification expects all bodies approved
through the Paddeco Third Party Certification scheme to adopt a similar ethos towards impartiality and to operate with the highest integrity at all times.