INNI
Online Update | Issue #5
March 2004
| INTRODUCTION
LETTER UPDATES BY
ISSUE AREA HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE Dear INNI member, We're delighted to provide you this most recent issue of the International NGO Network on ISO (INNI)-Online Update. In an effort to meet the evolving needs of the INNI membership, we've made some changes to the format and content of this electronic bulletin; we hope you find this new Update valuable and we welcome your feedback. We are happy to report that the INNI has grown enormously since its inception two years ago. The INNI's membership now represents 235 organizations from 42 countries worldwide (29 from developing countries). Our members cover a broad array of civil society organizations: in terms of size, we range from large international NGOs to small community-based organizations in developing countries. The interests of member organizations cover many topics: environmental, consumer, human rights, labor, socially responsible investing, agriculture, etc. And we hope to reach even more organizations with this important information on how ISO and its international standards affect social equity and the environment. So please forward this bulletin onto your colleagues and tell them how they can join the Network by going to the INNI website. Lastly, based on input received from INNI members, we are in the process of establishing a password protected portion of the INNI website. The purpose of this INNI "members only" bulletin board is to enable real time strategic discussions on key emerging ISO and international standards-related matters. We hope to add this feature in the near future and will notify you as soon as it is up and running. As always, we encourage you to email us at inni@pacinst.org with any comments or feedback you may have. Best regards, Jason Morrison PS 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 on the
INNI website.
UPDATES BY ISSUE AREA ISO to Host International Conference on Social Responsibility News Update: On its final stretch to explore the possible development of standards in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), ISO is hosting an international conference on the issue June 21-22, 2004 in Stockholm, Sweden. The evaluation process, which started almost three years ago, will culminate with an ISO Technical Management Board (TMB) meeting scheduled to take place shortly after the international conference. Input from conference attendees, coupled with an ISO CSR Strategic Advisory Group situational analysis and associated recommendations, will inform the TMB's decision on whether ISO should initiate standards work in the area of Social Responsibility. Analysis: The conference will be attended largely by national standards body delegations and representatives of interested international organizations. (Particpants have to be either invited or approved by ISO and/or its national member bodies.) With that said, the TMB should be given credit for encouraging ISO member bodies to ensure balanced stakeholder representation on their delegations, and to limit the maximum number of delegates to eight individuals to prevent the overrepresentation of certain regions/countries. Even though there are no specific requirements for national members to attain an appropriate mix of stakeholders, the TMB's advisory is noteworthy given its precedent-setting nature. Interested parties that would like to attend the international conference are encouraged to contact their respective national standards body to seek the opportunity to serve as a national delegate. Background: ISO formally began delving into Corporate Social Responsibility 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. NOTE: The informational
portion of this passage was drawn from electronic
updates on ISO and CSR provided by Tom Rotherham of the International
Institute for Sustainable Development. ISO Working Group Meets To Discuss Draft Standard on Greenhouse Gas Accounting News Update: In early March 2004 ISO's climate change working group met in London to review comments on the first full "Committee Draft" of ISO 14064, the Greenhouse Gas Quantification, Monitoring, and Reporting standard currently under development. (The comments were submitted by national member bodies and liaison organizations participating in TC 207 Working Group 5 (WG5), which has been tasked with developing the standard.) Despite five days of intensive dialogue, WG5 was unable to resolve completely the differences among various country positions. While in London, the group decided to send out a revised draft of the standard that incorporates the results of the March meeting. This draft will be circulated to member bodies for comment, and will serve as the basis for a second review meeting in Toronto in late April. Analysis: The major disagreements at the meeting arose from different views concerning the level of rigor needed for the reporting elements in the standard. Several representatives of major corporations argued strongly to make the standard as loose and undemanding as possible, with few or no binding requirements placed on companies. Others argued that a credible standard requires compliance with a clear and rigorous procedure, but should not be so burdensome that the transaction costs of project implementation discourage investment in GHG-reducing or sink enhancing activities. This group argued for the use of reasonable care in crafting the standard but for avoiding the temptation to penalize project developers, and assume they are all dishonest and deceitful, until proven otherwise. Background:
ISO started to explore the potential of developing climate change-related
standards in 1998, and Technical Committee 207 formally stepped
into the arena in June 2002, when it established WG5, which was
charged with creating a standard for the "measurement, reporting
and verification of entity- and project-level greenhouse gas emissions." Revised Versions of ISO 14001 and 14004 Nearing Final Approval News Update: ISO's Environmental Management System (EMS) standards ISO 14001 and ISO 14004, which were originally published in 1996, are approaching the completion of their first revision process. The two major objectives of the revision were to clarify key concepts and language in the standards, and to increase their compatibility with the ISO 9000 quality management standards. In January 2004, ISO Technical Committee 207 approved elevating the revised standards to the "Final Draft International Standard" stage. The vote passed by a large margin (51 out of 54), with the US, Canada, and Finland being the only countries casting negative votes. The new standards will go through a final round of fine-tuning and voting later this year and are scheduled for publication by the end of 2004. Analysis: The revised standards are noteworthy for their move toward more specific requirements on regulatory compliance and greater emphasis of this issue. Generally, the new standards will have a stronger correlation between an organization's legal requirements (compliance) and the requirements of the ISO 14001 EMS standard (conformity). These two concepts were separated in the prior version of the standards, but are now being merged, meaning that organizations that are out of legal compliance will now be deemed non-conforming vis-à-vis the standard. This shift is seen favorably by countries and stakeholders that consider EMS a possible supplemental tool for command and control-based regulatory systems, but was opposed by groups that see the potential for EMS to become yet another regulatory hurdle. In fact, a main reason for the U.S. "no" vote on the revised ISO 14001 standard comes largely from the concern among some in industry that this trend might create increased legal liability and burden of proof for the companies certifying their ISO 14001 EMSs with third-party registrars. New Guidance
on Using Environmenal Management Systems to Communicate with Stakeholders The Guidance
document focuses on three key elements of successful EMS: The Guidance document describes why including such elements in an EMS will build credibility with external stakeholders, and provides practical advice on how these particular elements can be designed and implemented to deliver the desired outcomes. This Guidance is intended for any organization that is putting an EMS into place that seeks to address the expectations of, and secure the confidence of, external audiences. NGO Alliance Releases Final Code for Social and Environmental Standards Development A formal collaboration
of international voluntary standard-setting and conformity assessment
organizations focused on social and environmental issues has recently
released its final "Code
of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards."
Known as the International Social and Environmental Accreditation
and Labeling (ISEAL) Alliance, the group decided to create this
capacity-building tool in response to the rapidly growing number
of "ethical" voluntary standards and labels that vary
greatly in their credibility. The Code of Good Practice aims to
improve the end quality of such voluntary standards by setting a
benchmark on how they should be developed. Along with the Code,
ISEAL has issued a Guidance
for the application of the Code. For more information, please
contact secretariat@isealalliance.org,
or go to ISEAL's website.
Research Paper on Environmental and Social Certification and Trade Policy Released Voluntary environmental and social standards and the related certification and labeling systems are increasingly becoming requirements for access to the markets. A research paper authored by the Pacific Institute and Pi Environmental Consulting for the ISEAL Alliance examines the current international legal framework for trade policy and conformity assessment that affects the effectiveness and credibility of emerging environmental and social standards and certification initiatives. The paper looks at key trade-related trends, surveys key technical challenges, and evaluates emerging and alternative standards initiatives. Miscellaneous News AIDIS, an inter-American
association of environmental engineers issued a position paper on
the water management standards being developed in ISO's Technical
Committee 224. AIDIS' position paper strongly advocates against
the inclusion of performance requirements (i.e., numerical values)
in the standards. The group's statement also calls for more input
from the less developed countries in Americas. More
information The American National Standard Institute (ANSI), in its input to the ISO's strategic planning process, has suggested testing new procedures that would allow direct participation by all stakeholders in standards development. While intended primarily to meet the evolving needs of businesses in a global economy, such a proposal could have direct benefits for NGOs participating in ISO standards development. The proposal is also emblematic of the growing movement toward stakeholder-based international standards development. Click here for a Crosslands Bulletin article assessing of ANSI's comments. More information ANEC, the European consumer voice on standardization, recently issued a position paper concerning the desirability and feasibility of CSR standards at both the national and international level. Among other things, ANEC calls for reform of the structure and procedures of international standards bodies to ensure adequate influence of organizations representing the public interest. More information The European Commission recently approved new guidelines for the monitoring and reporting of GHG emissions. The EU guideline will be used as the basis for Europe's emission allowance trading scheme. More information EMS consultants and auditors question the business value of ISO 14001 More information An opinion survey
conducted by Environmental Data Services (ENDS) and the Institute
of Environmental Management and Assessment has revealed significant
concerns about the effectiveness of environmental management systems
and the quality of their certification. The Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment, which oversees the application of Europe's voluntary regulation the Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in the UK, released the results of the survey on the effectiveness of ISO 14001 and EMAS. More information The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) has revised its procedures for recognizing the competency and performance of organizations that certify environmental management system standards. More information ISO's Building and Construction Technical Committee (TC 59) is developing a Sustainable Building Standard. The Standard will provide a general framework for reporting the environmental characteristics of building products. More information |
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