On 10 Oct 2012 The European Association for Medical devices of Notified Bodies (better known as Team-NB) issued a press release on the adoption of Version 3.0 of the Code of Conduct (CoC) for Notified Bodies under Directives 90/385/EEC (Active Implantable Medical Devices Directive), 93/42/EEC (Medical Devices Directive), and 98/79/EC (In-Vitro Diagnostic Directive) that is focusing on the recently proposed Medical Device Regulations.
Team-NB is a voluntary organization of Medical Device Notified Bodies (doesn’t represent all EU NB’s under the 3 Medical Device Directives) and as of 12 Nov 2012 there are now 35 members. During the 9 Oct 2012 Assembly in addition to the adoption of the CoC three (3) new members were unanimously added (LGA InterCert GmbH – Nurnberg Deutschland, UDEM – Ankara Turkey, and ALBERK QA TECKNIC – Istanbul Turkey).
The Version 3.0 Code of Conduct for Notified Bodies under Directives 90/385/EEC, 93/42/EEC, & 98/79/EC is a very thorough document which is 31 pages long and includes the Unannounced Inspections (or Unannounced Audits of Medical Device Manufacturers that are Certified under the applicable Medical Directive) which comes from the recently proposed Medical Device Regulations. As of the 30 October 2012 News Release 14 Notified Bodies had signed the V3.0 CoC and 2 additional NBs (LNE/G-MED & DQS) signed prior to 12 Nov 2012. It is anticipated that more NBs will sign in the near future as they adopt the policies covered within the V3.0 CoC which shows their commitment to improve the implementation of the EU CE marking certification of medical devices through clarified organizational criteria, management of competence and assessment practices. The major topics in the document are:
- Implementation, enforcement and monitoring of the Code of Conduct
- Qualification and Assignment of Notified Body Assessment Personnel
- Minimum time for Notified Body assessments
- Unannounced visits
- Sampling of class IIa and IIb technical files
- Design Dossier Reviews
- Rules for subcontracting
- Rules for Certification Decisions
Further revisions will be made to be in line with the new developments of the European legislation.