The tasks related to accreditation pursuant to this Regulation shall be carried out by the national accreditation bodies appointed pursuant to Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.

Where a Member State decides to allow for the certification of verifiers that are natural persons, pursuant to this Regulation, the tasks related to the certification of those verifiers shall be entrusted to a national authority other than the national accreditation body appointed pursuant to Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.

Where a Member State decides to use the option laid down in paragraph 2, it shall ensure that the national authority concerned meets the requirements of this Regulation, including those laid down in Article 70, and provide the required documentary evidence in accordance with Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.

A national accreditation body shall be a member of the body recognised under Article 14 of that Regulation.

A national accreditation body shall be entrusted with the operation of accreditation as a public authority activity and be granted formal recognition by the Member State, where accreditation is not operated directly by public authorities.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the national accreditation body shall carry out its functions in accordance with the requirements set out in the harmonised standard referred to in Annex III.

The national accreditation body shall be organised in a manner that guarantees its full independence from verifiers it assesses and its impartiality in carrying out its accreditation activities.

For that purpose, the national accreditation body shall not offer or provide any activities or services provided by a verifier, nor shall it provide consultancy services, own shares in or otherwise have a financial or managerial interest in a verifier.

Without prejudice to Article 54(2), the structure, responsibilities and tasks of the national accreditation body shall be clearly distinguished from those of the competent authority and those of other national authorities.

The national accreditation body shall take all final decisions pertaining to the accreditation of verifiers.

However, the national accreditation body may sub-contract certain activities, subject to the requirements set out in the harmonised standard referred to in Annex III.

The national accreditation body shall appoint an assessment team for each particular assessment.

An assessment team shall consist of a lead assessor and, where necessary, a suitable number of assessors or technical experts for a specific scope of accreditation.

The assessment team shall include at least one person with the knowledge of the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 601/2012 that are relevant for the scope of accreditation and the competence and understanding required to assess the verification activities within the installation or aircraft operator for that scope, and at least one person with the knowledge of relevant national legislation and guidance.

A lead assessor shall meet the competence requirements referred to in paragraph 1, have demonstrated competence to lead an assessment team and be responsible for carrying out an assessment in accordance with this Regulation.

Internal reviewers and persons taking the decisions on the granting, extending or renewing of an accreditation shall, in addition to the competence requirements referred to in paragraph 1, have sufficient knowledge and experience to evaluate the accreditation.

The national accreditation body may include technical experts in the assessment team to provide detailed knowledge and expertise on a specific subject matter needed to support the lead assessor or assessor in carrying out assessment activities.

A technical expert shall undertake specified tasks under the direction and full responsibility of the lead assessor of the assessment team concerned.

The national accreditation body shall, on a regular basis, make publicly available and update information obtained in the process of its accreditation activities.

The national accreditation body shall make, in accordance with point 4 of Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, adequate arrangements to safeguard, as appropriate, the confidentiality of information obtained.

National accreditation bodies shall subject themselves to a regular peer evaluation.

The peer evaluation shall be organised by the body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.

The body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 shall publish and communicate the outcome of the peer evaluation of a national accreditation body to the Commission, the national authorities responsible for the national accreditation bodies in the Member States, and the competent authority of Member States or the focal point referred to in Article 69(2).

Without prejudice to paragraph 1, where a national accreditation body has successfully undergone a peer evaluation organised by the body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 prior to the entry into force of this Regulation, the national accreditation body shall be exempted from undergoing a new peer evaluation following the entry into force of this Regulation if it can demonstrate conformity with this Regulation.

To that end, the national accreditation body concerned shall submit a request and the necessary documentation to the body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.

The body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 shall decide whether the conditions for granting an exemption have been met.

The exemption shall apply for a period not exceeding three years from the date of notification of the decision to the national accreditation body.

The national authority entrusted, pursuant to Article 54(2), with the tasks related to the certification of verifiers that are natural persons, pursuant to this Regulation shall meet a level of credibility equivalent to national accreditation bodies that have successfully undergone peer evaluation.

To that end, the Member State concerned shall, immediately following its decisions authorising the national authority to perform certification, provide the Commission and the other Member States with all relevant documentary evidence. No national authority shall certify verifiers for the purposes of this Regulation before the Member State concerned provides that documentary evidence.

The Member State concerned shall periodically review the functioning of the national authority with a view to ensure that it continues to meet the aforementioned level of credibility and inform the Commission thereof.

Member States shall monitor their national accreditation bodies at regular intervals in order to ensure that they fulfil the requirements of this Regulation on a continuing basis, taking into account the results of the peer evaluation carried out in accordance with Article 64.

Where a national accreditation body does not meet the requirements or fails to fulfil its obligations, as laid down in this Regulation, the Member State concerned shall take appropriate corrective action or shall ensure that such corrective action is taken, and inform the Commission thereof.

Member States shall recognise the equivalence of the services delivered by those national accreditation bodies that have successfully undergone a peer evaluation. Member States shall accept the accreditation certificates of verifiers accredited by those national accreditation bodies and respect the right of the verifiers to carry out verification for their scope of accreditation.

Where a national accreditation body has not undergone the complete peer evaluation process before 31 December 2014, Member States shall accept the accreditation certificates of verifiers accredited by that national accreditation body provided the body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 has started a peer evaluation for that national accreditation body and it has not identified any non-compliance of the national accreditation body with this Regulation.

Where the certification of verifiers is carried out by a national authority referred to in Article 54(2), Member States shall accept the certificate issued by such authority and respect the right of certified verifiers to carry out verification for their scope of certification.

Member States may require verifiers to use electronic templates or specific file formats for verification reports in accordance with Article 74(1) of Regulation (EU) No 601/2012.

Standardised electronic templates or file format specifications may be made available for the purpose of submitting a verification report and for further types of communication between the operator, aircraft operator, verifier, competent authority and national accreditation body in accordance with Article 74(2) of Regulation (EU) No 601/2012.