INNI
Online Update | Issue #4
November 2003
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LETTER UPDATES BY
ISSUE AREA HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE Dear INNI member, We are delighted to send you this new and improved version of the International NGO Network on ISO (INNI) - Online Update. We hope you will agree that this updated bulletin and website will enhance the value and accessibility of the information we provide. For our new INNI members, more general information about the initiative, past issues of the INNI Online Update, and detailed supplementary and background material on the topics we cover can be found online at: www.pacinst.org/inni. Please feel free to forward this bulletin onto other NGOs you think may find it of value. And as always, we encourage you to email us at inni@pacinst.org with any comments or feedback you may have. Best regards, Jason Morrison UPDATES BY ISSUE AREA Report on September 2003 Plenary Meeting of ISO Water Committee News Update: ISO Technical Committee 224 - Standardization of service activities relating to drinking water supply and sewerage - held its September 2003 meeting in Ottawa, Canada. The major issues that were debated at the meeting, but were not fully resolved, included: * Whether the
committee should develop one standard, or merge the three existing
subparts in some way; Analysis: The direction of this standard(s) remains in doubt, as several northern European countries continue to resist what they perceive to be an additional layer of regulation. Potentially, a TC 224 standard could offer consumers useful information in the form of performance indicators for water service delivery; however, broad opposition within the committee to the inclusion of meaningful indicators suggests that TC 224 standards could end up offering limited benefit to consumer and environmental advocates. Background:
One of the most important - and controversial - trends in the global
water arena is the accelerating transfer of the production, distribution,
or management of water or water services from public entities into
private hands - a process loosely called "privatization."
In late 2001, with the creation of TC 224, ISO entered the critical
area of water resource management. According to local U.S. water
agencies, which voted against the French proposal to begin work
in this area, standardization represents the beginning of an unacceptable
push toward privatization. Further, because the World Trade Organization
recognizes ISO as a developer of "trade-legal" standards,
the environmental community has also been concerned about the trade
and democratic governance implications of the standards TC 224 will
produce. It is feared that any norms created in TC 224's standards
could limit or undermine domestic regulation of water and wastewater
services if and when disputes arise. ISO Reins in Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group on CSR News Update: ISO's Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) met in July 2003 to lay out a detailed work plan and timeline for the activities it has been charged by ISO to complete. However, at a subsequent meeting, the ISO Technical management Board (TMB), which has oversight responsibilities for the SAG's work, significantly modified the SAG's proposed approach by downgrading the SAG's primary work product from a formal ISO Technical Report to an internal "working report." The TMB also revised the ISO Council's resolution that the SAG should undertake developing a Justification Study (JS) immediately after the completion of the technical report. Instead, the TMB took more direct responsibility for that work, and agreed that it would decide after the completion of the working paper whether to initiate a JS, and if so, assign who should do it. The TMB purportedly made these changes so as to expedite the completion of the first analysis, and also so that the SAG could focus on its internal "advisory" role, rather than getting bogged down with procedural issues. Analysis: The TMB's revision of the advisory group's work plan is a clear sign that ISO, once seemingly comfortable with "floating" the deliberations surrounding its possible role in international CSR standardization, would like to maintain closer and more direct control over the process. It now evident that the TMB is willing to selectively adopt the SAG's recommendations, even if that risks unsettling the SAG's multi-stakeholder consensus. As a result of the TMB's action, there will likely be less time and room for ISO member bodies, as well as external groups, to influence if, and how, CSR is going to be addressed in ISO. Background: ISO formally began delving into CSR in September 2002 when ISO's governing body, the ISO Council, voted to establish an advisory body to explore the feasibility and desirability of creating CSR standards. This decision, which was in response to a proposal by ISO's committee on consumer policy, is noteworthy because CSR is an entirely new area for ISO and because ISO currently has very few public interest groups or labor organizations in its standards-making process. Committee Draft of ISO's Greenhouse Gas Standard Circulated for Review News Update: On November 7, 2003, the first Committee Draft (CD) of ISO's greenhouse gas (GHG) standard (Parts 1-3) was circulated to TC 207 member countries for review and comment. Member comments are due by early February 2003 and the ISO working group (WG5) developing the standard will discuss and incorporate tthem at its next meeting March 8-12, 2003 in London. For information on how to obtain ISO 14064 Committee Drafts, contact the INNI Secretariat at inni@pacinst.org Analysis: A major unresolved issue for Part 1of the standard (measurement and reporting for organizations) is whether accounting and reporting of indirect emissions, particularly those associated with the generation of purchased electricity by the reporting organization will be required or optional. If only optional in ISO's standard, this would mark a notable divergence from existing best practice. An ongoing concern relating to Part 2 of ISO 16064 (measurement and reports for projects) is that its precise purpose has never been clearly articulated, and as a result, there is a possibility of a mismatch between the standard's final requirements and its application in the market. More generally, there is a growing concern by some outside of ISO that development of such a "project" standard is premature due to the lack of agreement (and experience) on such fundamental issues such as how to address the concept of additionality, establish baselines, and take into account leakage and other negative secondary effects associated with projects. Background: ISO started to explore the potential of developing climate change-related standards in 1998, and Technical Committee 207 (TC 207) formally stepped into the arena in June 2002, when it established Working Group 5, which was charged with creating a standard for the "measurement, reporting and verification of entity- and project-level greenhouse gas emissions." Membership Established for Joint Group of NGOs and ISO/TC 207 Leadership News Update: Four NGO representatives (elected by the NGOs participating in Technical Committee 207) and four representatives of the TC 207 leadership (chosen by the technical committee's chair) have been selected to serve on a joint group created by TC 207 to review the NGO-produced report, "Increasing the Effectiveness of NGO Participation in TC 207," and to provide recommendations to the technical committee on how best to address the report's specific recommendations. Background: ISO's membership has long been dominated by corporations and governments, but there is increasing recognition within ISO and TC 207 that NGOs can bring important perspectives and expertise to standards development. In 2001 ISO's TC 207, charged with developing standards pertaining to environmental management, created a task group to review ways of improving NGO participation in the committee's work. Among other products, this group developed a report with 14 detailed recommendations on how to improve NGO participation. Committee Draft of Environmental Communications Standard Circulated to TC 207 Members News Update: At its last meeting in Berlin in September 2003, TC 207 Working Group 4 (WG 4) agreed to propose elevating its document to the "committee draft" stage and to circulate the draft environmental communications standard (ISO/CD 14063) to the full TC 207 membership for review and comment. The next meeting of WG 4 will be held February 25 - 27, 2004 in Paris, at which time the group will deal with the comments received on ISO/CD 14063. For information on how to obtain ISO 14063 Committee Drafts, contact the INNI Secretariat at inni@pacinst.org Strategic Planning in CASCO: Asking the Hard Questions News Update: Recent strategic planning efforts within ISO's policy committee on conformity assessment (CASCO) may eventually lead to more rigorous evaluation of standards' implementation. Since 2002, CASCO has been working to address a number of committee's perceived weaknesses, and at the conclusion of CASCO's 2002 plenary, delegates, among other commitments, agreed to pay particular attention to enhancing stakeholder representation in the committee's work. Also as part of its strategic planning effort, the committee created two Ad Hoc Groups to study and suggest further actions that ISO could take on the issue of credibility of certification bodies, as well as the credibility of suppliers providing declarations of conformity. However, at its March 2003 meeting, ISO's governing body (The ISO Council) resolved that CASCO halt the establishment of these groups, and give time for the ISO Council Standing Committee on Strategies to consider the issue of "ethics" in ISO from a broader perspective. Other projects across ISO that related to the subject of credibility were similarly halted. Analysis: The move by the ISO Council suggests this delicate issue is recognized as a significant reputational liability for ISO and that it, therefore, should be handled at the highest level. Background: Established in 1970, CASCO produces International Standards and guides that provide information and general requirements on conformity assessment procedures. CASCO's documents for conformity assessment encourage best practice and consistency when products, services, systems, processes and materials need to be evaluated against standards, regulations or other specifications. CASCO membership is open to all ISO member bodies and currently has 54 Participating countries and 38 Observer countries in the committee. There are also a number of international liaisons to the committee. ISO Developing Long-Term Strategy News Update: In its first step toward developing a long-range strategy for 2005-2010, ISO circulated a consultation document, "ISO Horizon 2010: Standards for Sustainable World," to member bodies for review and comment. The document highlights trends and emerging issues surrounding international standardization and lays out a set of questions related to key issues, including: developing country participation in ISO, the need for improved stakeholder involvement, recognition of the role of international standards in trade and globalization, and support for conformity assessment, among others. Analysis: That ISO has started to recognize the importance of broader stakeholder involvement as a key to the market relevance and acceptance of its standards can be seen as a positive sign from a public interest perspective. It is ironic, however, that the consultation process around Horizon 2010 was not widely known to the public. As is the case with ISO's standard development process, it has been left entirely to each ISO member body to consult its relevant stakeholders. Background: Over the past five years, ISO had undergone two cycles of strategic plans, "ISO Strategies 1999-2001" and the current "ISO Strategies 2002-2004." This more extensive consultation process represents an effort to broaden the thinking around important issues and extend the temporal horizon for guiding the organization's course. Geneva Workshop Discusses Link Between International Standardization and Trade Entitled "Building Bridges: Ethical Standards, Sustainable Development and Trade," a two-day meeting was held in Geneva, June 12-13, 2003 to identify activities to minimize the threats and/or maximize the related opportunities facing Ethical Certification and Labeling (ECL), a term used to categorize all certification and labeling initiatives that aim to demonstrate good social and/or environmental behavior from certified organizations. According to the workshop proceedings, the roughly 25 participants identified the salient issues facing ECL, including: (i) Strengthened willingness of the World Trade Organization to regulate ecolabeling, (ii) the work initiated by ISO regarding Corporate Social Responsibility, (iii) the general growing acceptance that overarching rules should govern all types of ECL, (iv) indications that the rules should be based on an international standardization processes deemed acceptable by the WTO. The meeting was convened by WWF International, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH and Pi Environmental Consulting.
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