Paul Sherfield of consultancy The Missing Horse and chairman of the BPIF Technical Committee highlighted the importance of certification that had been accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and how that differed from other certification schemes.

"UKAS accreditation is important to clients," Sherfield said. "They don't understand what other accreditations are. We weren't going to come up with something that wasn't suitable for clients."

Print + Media Certification director Jon Stack said: "Accreditation proves that the certification is carried out by firms that are competent, impartial and independent. Auditors can't consult for firms that they audit."

In comparison, commercial colour certification schemes such as those from German organisation Fogra were said to lack both national accreditation and widespread client acceptance.