Dealing with requests for
information
Step 1: Enquiry arrives at
the IC
It is important to realize that an IC
will not be the only organization to which requests are directed.
Enquirers will often direct their needs to other organizations, and
those organizations are within their rights to respond.
Step 2: Can the IC
itself respond to the enquiry?
IC itself need not provide the response if it is not available
within its resources. If the information required is not available
internally the IC should ensure that a relevant organization
does respond.
Step 3: Identification of
who should respond
The IC should keep information on government departments,
local government offices, standards bodies and conformity
assessment bodies to assist in identifying appropriate
organizations capable of responding to a particular enquiry.
Step 4: Initiation of the
response by a third party
The enquiry should be sent to the appropriate person or division
within the selected organization with a request that it be answered
either directly to the enquirer with a copy sent to the IC, or for
the response to be sent to the IC for forwarding to the
enquirer. Annex contains a generic cover letter that could
accompany the request for a response.
Step 5: Despatch of
response
If the IC can provide the answer from its own knowledge and
resources, the response should be generated promptly. The enquiry
should be closed off once a response has been despatched to the
enquirer. To facilitate the responsiveness of IC it is
recommended that a copy of the response be also sent to the IC
in the enquirer’s economy.
Timeliness: A
reasonable time should be allocated in which to obtain a response
when a third party is requested to generate it. As the time
allocated to obtain a response nears expiry, the status of the
request should be checked (a progress report obtained). The
enquirer should be kept informed if there has been an undue time
lapse between the enquiry being generated and the response
delivered.
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