1. For the purposes of notification, a conformity assessment body shall meet the requirements laid down in paragraphs 2 to 12.

2. A conformity assessment body shall be established under national law and have legal personality.

3. A conformity assessment body shall be a third-party body independent of the organisation or the product with digital elements it assesses.

A body belonging to a business association or professional federation representing undertakings involved in the design, development, production, provision, assembly, use or maintenance of products with digital elements which it assesses, may, on condition that its independence and the absence of any conflict of interest are demonstrated, be considered to be such a third-party body.

4. A conformity assessment body, its top level management and the personnel responsible for carrying out the conformity assessment tasks shall not be the designer, developer, manufacturer, supplier, importer, distributor, installer, purchaser, owner, user or maintainer of the products with digital elements which they assess, nor the authorised representative of any of those parties. This shall not preclude the use of assessed products that are necessary for the operations of the conformity assessment body or the use of such products for personal purposes.