INNI

At its May plenary meeting in Brazil, ISO's Consumer Policy Committee (COPOLCO) decided to step back from its initial plan to develop an ISO standardization proposal for fair trade in order to first establish a fact-finding process to better understand the problems and potential solutions concerning the broader concept of ethical labelling and issues associated with their credibility and accountability with consumers. Since 2006, ISO and Consumers International (CI) were working to evaluate the feasibility and desirability of an ISO standard for fair trade. In early 2007, COPOLCO, in cooperation with Consumers International and the French standards body AFNOR, conducted a survey and consulted stakeholders including the major fair trade organizations. Following the survey, COPOLCO held a workshop at its most recent plenary meeting. The workshop, titled "Can consumers rely on fair trade claims?," presented the findings from the consultation, and housed discussion on issues associated with the proliferation of ethical trade labels, and consumers' concern about the credibility of various initiatives and labels.

Based on the results of the CI-AFNOR survey/consultation and subsequent workshop, COPOLCO agreed it was premature to move forward with standards development until more factual information about core issues and problems could be gathered and analyzed. In addition to CI, AFNOR, and the Brazilian national standard bodies (ABNT), the steering committee of the joint fact-finding group currently includes the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT), the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL). CI is hosting and supporting the activity relieving ISO of the work for the moment. The group has decided on the initial scope and workplan for the fact-finding process and is currently seeking the necessary funding to implement it. The project, titled "the Ethical Trade Fact-Finding (ETFF) Process," will be implemented over two nine-month phases, and has two main objectives: to establish a multi-stakeholder-driven process to clarify the nature and extent of inaccurate or false claims and the problems such claims present for consumers; and to develop potential solutions to address the problems identified. In particular, the project aims to examine: the extent of consumer confusion; impacts of consumer confusion problems; impacts of inaccurate/false claims on other stakeholders; and existing methods/attempts to address the problem. As a part of the project's first phase, the ETFF process will hold a multi-stakeholder roundtable to discuss and gather input on the issues. The joint group will report back to COPOLCO at its next plenary meeting in South Korea in May 2008.

The decision to put the ISO standardization of ethical trade on hold is seen as a positive development by fair trade organizations. FINE, an umbrella organization of four major fair trade associations, as well as the ISEAL Alliance, an association of international standard-setting, certification, and accreditation organizations that focus on social and environmental issues, had released statements prior to the May workshop arguing that ISO is not the right venue to develop a fair trade standard. The fact-finding process will give both consumer groups and fair trade organizations opportunities to work together to investigate the issues more closely before assessing whether moving into standardization could have significant benefits in the area of ethical trade.

Two years into the 2005-2010 strategic plan that formally initiated ISO's vision of becoming a developer of "Standards for Sustainable World," ISO is rapidly increasing its activities in the social and environmental arenas, including energy management, sustainable fishery and green building.

More ISO Standards in Sustainability Field [12/18/2007]

In February 2007, ISO established a new Technical Committee (TC 234 - Fisheries and Aquaculture) to develop standards that will promote the sustainable management of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. The scope of the new committee includes such aspects as monitoring of biological resources, environmental awareness, animal health and welfare, occupational health and safety, food safety, data reporting, waste disposal, and terminology. The Norwegian standards body (SN), which is serving as the secretariat of TC 234, hosted the committee's first plenary meeting in October in Bergen, Norway. Fourteen countries are participating in the committee, and another 17 countries have observer status. In addition, Codex Alimentarius Commission, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are participating as liaison organizations. Click here to download the new work item proposal and draft business plan for TC 234.

In September 2007, the ISO Council launched an action plan to enhance ISO's contribution to energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Five priority areas have been selected for their potential contribution to energy savings and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions:

harmonization of terminology and calculation methods on energy efficiency, consumption, and savings;
energy management standards to provide a systemic approach to the continual improvement of energy performance;
standards for liquid and solid biofuels, biomass, biogas, and their sustainable production;
standards covering retrofitting and refurbishing to help with the upgrading of buildings and factories;
standards covering the energy efficiency of buildings.

Some of these suggested activities are already moving forward. For instance, a proposal to develop a standard for solid biofuel was submitted by the Swedish standards body (SIS), and the US standards body (ANSI) has developed a proposal and justification study to create an ISO energy management standard.

n October 2007, ISO published a standard for sustainable building construction: ISO 21930:2007- Sustainability in building construction - Environmental declaration of building products. It was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 59, Building construction, subcommittee SC 17, Sustainability in building construction. The standard describes the principles and framework for environmental declarations relating to building products and materials, and aims to establish uniformity and consistency in the way environmental product declarations are made. These declarations contain the information about the environmental aspects of the building material for its entire life-cycle, and will provide reliable guidance for purchasers who are interested in environmentally-friendly materials.

ISO's Senior Management Body Establishes Task Force on Sustainability [12/18/2007]

The rapid proliferation of sustainability-related standardization in ISO, especially activities recently initiated in existing technical committees, has raised some concerns within ISO. Many of these sector or technology-specific ISO technical committees do not have broad expertise relating to environmental and/or social issues. In addition, they are often populated solely by industry experts without any meaningful input or participation by civil society groups or other affected stakeholders. Plus, there is minimal on-going monitoring to verify that new standardization activities fall within the scope of a certain technical committee, or if they require coordination with other committees. Such problems became evident with the revision of standard ISO 9004.2 -Managing for sustainability - A quality management system approach. Technical Committee 176 for quality management started revising this standard to integrate the concept of sustainability and did so without prior consultation or cooperation with other technical committees involved in sustainability issues (such as Working Group on Social Responsibility, WG SR). As a result, some of the contents covered in the draft ISO 9004.2 standard have direct overlap with the ISO 26000 Social Responsibility standard. The WG SR leadership expressed its concern (as did others within ISO) and asked ISO's management body to look into the issue.

ISO's central management body, the Technical Management Board (TMB), recognized this episode as the first of what could be many prospective conflicts related to ISO's expansion into the sustainability field. In June 2007, the TMB established a task force on sustainability to: develop communication regarding ISO and sustainability; carry out an inventory/survey of ISO work relevant to sustainability; and develop terms of reference for a possible advisory group on sustainability. At its last meeting in September 2007, the TMB issued a resolution on sustainability in which it responded to the concern by WG SR by asking ISO Central Secretariat and sustainability task force to look into the issue with ISO 9004.2. The resolution also asked the task force and Central Secretariat to monitor and report any developments by technical committees in the area of sustainability to ensure they remain within their existing scopes.

ISO Considers Standardization for Stakeholder Engagement [12/18/2007]

At its last plenary meeting in May 2007, ISO's Consumer Policy Committee (COPOLCO) decided to develop a proposal for a new ISO standard that would provide guidance on how organizations can obtain consumer and public interest stakeholder input. Initiated by a COPOLCO working group on consumer participation, the final product would provide practical guidance and tools for organizations that are looking to establish stakeholder engagement activities.

ISO, WRI and WBCSD Formally Agree to Jointly Promote Their Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Verification Standards [12/18/2007]

ISO, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly promote the ISO 14064 standard for GHG accounting and verification and WRI/WBCSD's GHG Protocol. This official announcement of cooperation between the initiatives responds to concerns among businesses that the two standards might not be consistent. Informally, these organizations have been working together for several years, with WRI and WBCSD involved in the development of ISO 14064 to ensure the two standards are consistent and complementary to one another. With this formal agreement, the three organizations expect to promote the standards more effectively by joining their capacity for training and education, as well as developing integrated tools and materials for implementation.

ISO's Environmental Management Committee Establishes New Subcommittee on Greenhouse Gas Management [12/18/2007]

The proposal to create a new Subcommittee on greenhouse gas management (SC 7) was approved by ISO's senior management in August 2007. The new subcommittee was created by merging two Working Groups within the committee that developed international standards on greenhouse gas measurement, reporting and verification (ISO 14064 and 14065). While the main objective of the SC 7 is to maintain these two standards, the broad scope of the new Subcommittee raises the likely possibility that it may expand its work and develop additional climate change-related standards.

A Report on the State of Voluntary Environmental Initiatives [12/18/2007]

Pollution Probe, a Canadian environmental NGO, released a report summarizing the state of voluntary environmental initiatives and other emerging environmental policy instruments. The findings suggest that targeted and well-structured voluntary initiatives can play an important supplementary role to conventional regulatory approaches as a part of an integrated environmental protection regime

ISO Assesses Whether to Undertake Standardization on Fair Trade [05/20/2007]

ISO's Consumer Policy Committee (COPOLCO) adopted a resolution at its 2006 plenary inviting "Consumers International [CI] to develop a proposal for new technical work in fair trade, including certification, for consideration at the next meeting of COPOLCO in 2007." As a first step to evaluating the feasibility and desirability of such a standard, CI conducted a survey among COPOLCO member countries, CI members, and fair trade organizations. The French standards association (AFNOR), which has recently produced a guidance document on the principles and criteria of fair trade, is joining CI's yearlong investigation of the possibility of a fair trade standard within ISO. CI and AFNOR's survey findings and the issues raised by the survey responses will be discussed at a one-day workshop that will be held immediately prior to COPOLCO's upcoming plenary meeting in Salvador, Brazil at the end of May 2007.

According to CI and AFNOR's preparatory report for the COPOLCO meeting, the desire to standardize fair trade is largely driven by a concern regarding the proliferation of fair trade initiatives, as well as a current environment where false claims are made without any accountability. The CI/AFNOR paper further argues that an ISO fair trade standard could: 1) reduce consumer confusion about various fair/ethical trade-related claims by clarifying the distinction between different certification and labeling schemes; and 2) mainstream the existing fair trade effort. Two possible scopes for an ISO standard are under consideration: a definitions standard that would seek to define ethical trade and clarify the differences between fair trade, ethical trade, sustainable trade, etc; and a baseline standard for ethical/fair trade that would provide minimum requirements for making "fair" or "ethical" claims.

A notable finding of the feasibility and desirability survey is that all of the fair trade organizations consulted oppose fair trade standardization within ISO. In addition, FINE, an umbrella organization of four major fair trade associations, as well as the ISEAL Alliance, an association of international standard-setting, certification, and accreditation organizations that focus on social and environmental issues, have released statements arguing that ISO is not the right venue to develop a fair trade standard. The fair/ethical trade groups, however, acknowledged the concerns raised by consumers organizations, and in particular, recognized the need to have more involvement of consumers in their initiatives. As a possible alternative, the fair/ethical trade organizations also offered to work with CI to develop definitions and categorization of various initiatives, as well as to collaborate on other initiatives that can address consumer concerns.

New Environmental and Social Standards for the Financial Sector [07/31/06]

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, adopted new environmental and social standards in April 2006. The new standards are the revised and enhanced version of the current requirements that IFC applies to private sector projects it finances in the developing world. The performance standards cover eight areas: Social & Environmental Assessment and Management System; Labor and Working Conditions; Pollution Prevention and Abatement; Community Health, Safety & Security; Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement; Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Natural Resource Management; Indigenous Peoples; and Cultural Heritage. At the institutional level, IFC also adopted a new policy that would ensure greater disclosure of information to the public by both IFC and client companies.

The Equator Principles, a set of environmental and social guidelines for financial industry, was also updated July 2006 in accordance with the new IFC standards. This is a set of financial industry benchmarks for assessing and managing social and environmental risk in project financing, and are now applied by 40 leading commercial financial institutions which collectively represent some 80 percent of global project finance.

ISO's new nanotechnology standards to include environmental aspects [3/7/2006]

ISO has formed a new Technical Committee (TC) 229 to develop standards on nanotechnologies. The proposed standards will include classification, terminology and nomenclature, basic metrology, calibration, and certification, as well as environmental issues associated with nanotechnology. The first TC meeting was held in London in November 2005, and hosted by the United Kingdom, which provides the Chair and Secretariat of the new committee. Three working groups have been created to develop the standards, including one that has been tasked with addressing the health, safety, and environmental aspects relating to nanotechnology. There are currently 24 participating and eight observer countries involved in the TC. The second TC 229 meeting will be held June 23-26 in Tokyo.

New standard for hazardous substance management [3/7/2006]

In response to the recent introduction of major European legislation in the area of electronic waste, IECQ -(Quality Assessment System for Electronic Component, a certification body for electronics-related standards, recently developed a standard on hazardous substances process management (HSPM). The new standard uses a management system approach, and is targeted for the implementation/compliance for the European Directives on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and the Restriction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS). These regulations were developed based on the concept of extended producer responsibility, and require producers to recycle waste electrical/electronic equipment and remove certain hazardous substances from their products. IECQ had also proposed that the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), a standards developing body for the fields of electrotechnology, create an international standard for hazardous substance management based on their HSPM, however, industry groups were against creating another certifiable management standard, and the management body of the IEC decided not to develop such a standard for the time being. IECQ will nevertheless continue to promote and to certify companies to their HSPM standard. It is yet uncertain how this standard will be used, and how widely it will be accepted, but the case presents an example of a private standard developed/used in absence of equivalent international standard, and which was created without formal process and stakeholder involvement, but yet could become a quasi-market norm.

European organizations discuss standards and public policy [3/7/2006]

The European Environmental Citizens Organisation for Standardisation (ECOS) met in December to discuss the nexux between standardization and environmental policy. More information including the workshop presentations can be found at the ECOS website. Also in December, the European Commission (EC) hosted a workshop on the "challenge of stakeholder involvement in order to integrate environmental aspects into European standardization." It was a follow-up on the EC's report on the integration of environmental aspects into standardization published in 2004.

ISO's Environmental Declaration Standard Being Finalized [10/17/05]

TC 207's Draft International Standard (DIS) for environmental declaration, ISO 14025 - Environmental labels and declarations - Type III environmental declarations - Principles and procedures was approved overwhelmingly in August 2005, with 42 out of 44 countries voting to approve the DIS. South Korea and Austria cast disapproval votes, and a liaison group, European Environmental Organizations in Standardisation (ECOS) also submitted comments critical of the DIS. Type III environmental declarations, which are based on life-cycle assessment (LCA), are used to communicate to businesses and/or end-use consumers information about the composition and environmental characteristics of products. The ISO 14025 standard describes the procedures and requirements regarding how to establish and implement Type III environmental product declaration programs.

Development of a New ISO Management System Standard Raises Concern [10/17/05]

Without being noticed by many ISO member bodies, a new ISO management system specification document has reached the Committee Draft (CD) level. The ISO Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 28000 "Specification for security management systems for the supply chain" was developed by ISO/Technical Committee 8 - Ships and Marine Technology without the completion of a justification study in accordance with ISO Guide 72, nor consultation with ISO TC 176, both of which are required for the development of any ISO management standard according to the ISO Directives. The release of the draft PAS has raised concerns in ISO circles, and particularly by industry, mainly because it is a generic specification document and can be applied to any sector, even though it was developed within the context of ships and marine technology. Some ISO member countries have already issued statements voicing their objections and casting a negative vote against approval of the draft.

New ISO Management System Standard for Occupational Health and Safety Considered [10/17/05]

British Standards Institute (BSI) is drafting a proposal for the development of an ISO Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Management Systems Standard. There are already several national and international OH&S standards, such as the International Labor Organization's OSH Guideline, the U.S. standard ANSI Z10, the Canadian standard CSA Z1000, and the British guidance BS 8800 and specification OHSAS 18001, among others. Since its release in 1999, the British standard OHSAS 18001, Occupational health and safety management systems - Specification has gained increased use and recognition for third-party certification of OH&S management systems throughout the world. It is still uncertain whether ISO members will decide to develop a new certification standard in this area, however, considering that many organizations have traditionally combined their environmental and OH&S programs, alignment, consistency, and compatibility between such standards and ISO 14001 will be key for the new standard.

New International Standards on Tourism Being Developed [10/17/05]

A new ISO Technical Committee, TC 228, has been created to develop international standards relating to tourism. Potential areas of standards development include accommodations, restaurants, travel agencies, transportation, as well as protection of natural areas and beaches and sustainable tourism. The new standards will also likely address drinking water safety and beach water safety. The committee is planning to use existing management system standards, ISO 9000 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment), with a vision to augment them specifically for tourism-related activities. ISO/TC 207 - Environmental Management has decided to request formal liaisonship with TC 228, in order to facilitate consultation on the environmental aspects of the new standards, including eco-tourism.

New International Standard on Desert Management Considered [10/17/05]

Egypt has announced its intention to submit a new work item proposal on the creation of ISO standard(s) for desert management. The phenomenon of desertification is a real threat to the environment and economy in many countries in northern Africa, and several ISO member countries in that region have already supported the initiative. Egypt was requested by TC 207 to work with other Participating member countries in the committee when developing the proposal.

ISO Releases Draft International Standard on Environmental Declarations [7/21/05]

ISO Technical Committee 207's Working Group on "Type III" Environmental Labelling has released for ballot and comment a draft of its standard under development, ISO 14025 - Environmental labels and declarations - Type III environmental declarations -Principles and procedures. Type III environmental declarations, which are based on life-cycle assessment (LCA), are used to communicate to businesses and/or end-use consumers information about the composition and environmental characteristics of products. The ISO 14025 standard describes the procedures and requirements regarding how to establish and implement Type III environmental product declaration programs. Interested organizations can download the standard at INNI's Draft International Standard page, and are encouraged to submit comments to their respective national standards bodies or the INNI Secretariat.

Proposal Approved for New ISO Standard on Risk Management [7/25/05]

In February 2005, Japan, in partnership with Australia, submitted a proposal to develop a new ISO standard on risk management. Entitled "General Guidelines for Principles and Implementation of Risk Management," the proposed standard aims to provide practical guidance on the risk management process, including issues such as risk identification, evaluation, and treatment. The proposed structure of the standard follows the management system approach, such as the one used in ISO's quality and environmental management system standards. The standard is not intended for certification. The proposal passed overwhelmingly, with 25 member countries voting in favor, and only two countries, USA and Germany, voting against.

European Consumer Organization Takes Position on Standardization of Information and Communication Technology [7/25/05]

ANEC, the European consumer voice in standardization, recently released a position paper on future challenges of standardization in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ITC). ANEC states that there is a genuine need to reform the standardization system so as to ensure effective consumer participation in order to develop standards that meet consumers' requirements, both in the ICT sector and in general. The paper lists five principles on which ICT standardization should be based: openness and transparency; enhanced consumer participation, consensus, implementation and assessment of standards, and cautious use of new deliverables and non-formal standard setting fora. For more information, visit ANEC's website:http://www.anec.org.

ISEAL Makes Call for Public Comment on its Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards [7/25/05]

The ISEAL Alliance's Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards is undergoing its first review and revision process since its publication one year ago. ISEAL, a formal collaboration of international voluntary standard-setting and conformity assessment organizations, released the Code in 2004 to set out best practices for how voluntary social and environmental standards should be developed. ISEAL is inviting public review and comment on all aspects of the Code, including its applicability and usefulness. The comment period ends July 31st, 2005. For more information, visit ISEAL's website: http://www.isealalliance.org.

Feedback on ISO's Long-term Strategy Consultation Document Released [8/19/04]

ISO has released a summary and analysis of the responses it received from member bodies and external stakeholders regarding the organization's strategic goals for next five years. A total of 54 formal responses - 41 from ISO members and 13 from ISO's international partners - were submitted to the ISO central Secretariat. The feedback is being used to shape the final draft of ISO's Strategy 2005-2010, which will be submitted to the ISO General Assembly for approval in September 2004.

Analysis: The paper concludes that ISO is increasing in importance and influence and that its standards will increasingly serve as essential mechanisms to support a sustainable world economy. In particular, regarding the scope of the ISO's work, some respondents advocated wider coverage in areas, such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Governance, Occupational Health and Safety, and more generally, sustainable development. Based on this feedback, it is very likely that ISO will continue to expand its scope of work into the environmental and social arenas.

In the area of stakeholder involvement and developing country participation, a vast majority of responses recognized that there is a significant room for improvement to expand the participation of these underrepresented groups. Suggestions for required actions included: communication and promotion; modification/improvement of processes (concerning participation and dissemination of information); development of new mechanisms to foster the participation of disadvantaged categories; and use of resources and assistance. It is noteworthy that these suggestions overlap substantially with the ISO Technical Management Board's recent resolution regarding ISO's proposed Social Responsibility standards where the TMB:

"acknowledges that social responsibility involves a number of subjects and issues that are qualitatively different from the subjects and issues that have traditionally been dealt with by ISO;
agrees to ensure that ISO processes are adjusted where necessary to ensure meaningful participation by the full range of interested parties;
recommends that sustainable mechanisms be established to facilitate the participation in ISO SR work of experts from developing countries, NGOs, consumers and other groups having limited resources."

ISO Creates Working Group on Consumer Participation [8/19/04]

ISO's Consumer Policy Committee (COPOLCO) launched a new Working Group (WG) tasked with examining the issue of consumer participation in ISO standards development. The topic of consumer participation was brought up during the ISO's strategy consultation process, and COPOLCO decided to form an electronic working group to exchange information on topics including national practices, limitations of consumer representation, and existing standards or guidance on public participation. Click here for COPOLCO's Resolution

ISO Decides not to Revise Environmental Performance Evaluation Standard [8/19/04]

The scheduled systematic review of ISO 14031 - Environmental Performance Evaluation Guidelines was carried out between January and June 2004. The majority of member countries confirmed the current standard should stay as is, and that there was no need to make revisions to it at this time. For the result of the voting, click here

NGO Alliance Publishes Code of Good Practice for Social and Environmental Standards Development [3/26/04]

The ISEAL Alliance, a formal collaboration of international voluntary standard-setting and conformity assessment organizations, has produced a capacity-building tool to improve the quality of standards that focus on social and environmental issues. By creating procedures that constitute good practices for standards development, the Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards will not only ensure that these standards result in measurable progress toward sustainability (without creating unnecessary hurdles to international trade), but also serve as a minimum bar against which to measure the credibility of such voluntary standards.

The Code incorporates two internationally recognized standard-setting procedures that have been developed by ISO (Guide 59) and the WTO (TBT Agreement, Annex 3), and then adapted them to be more appropriate to voluntary "process and production method" standards. That approach maximized the legitimacy within the international standards community, while ensuring the Code is relevant to social and environmental standards. The development of the Code went through two cycles of public review and comment, in addition to an email discussion forum and face-to-face workshops that incorporated a full range of stakeholder input. The final public draft was released in January 2004.

Along with the Code, ISEAL issued the a Guidance Document for the application of the Code.

For more information, please contact secretariat @ isealalliance.org, or go to ISEAL's website: http://www.isealalliance.org

Research Paper on Environmental and Social Certification and Trade Policy Released [3/26/04]

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.

Strategic Planning in CASCO: Asking the Hard Questions [11/24/03]

Some relatively recent strategic planning efforts within CASCO (ISO's policy committee on conformity assessment) may be of interest to NGOs. Since 2002, CASCO has been working to address a number of the committee's perceived weaknesses. CASCO's 2002 plenary concluded with a discussion of the future challenges facing the committee, and among other commitments, the delegates agreed to pay particular attention to enhancing stakeholder representation in CASCO's work.

Also as part of its strategic planning effort, CASCO began to investigate some "credibility issues." In 2002, the committee passed a resolution that created two Ad Hoc Groups for the period of 2003 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. The move by the ISO Council suggests this delicate issue is recognized as a significant reputational liability for ISO and that the issue, therefore, should be handled at the highest level.

NOTE: Established in 1970, CASCO produces International Standards and guides that provide information and general requirements on conformity assessment procedures. CASCO membership is open to all ISO member bodies and currently has 54 Participating countries and 38 Observer countries in the committee.

ISO Developing Long-Term Strategy [11/24/03]

In July 2003, ISO launched an initiative to develop its long-range strategies for 2005-2010. To begin the strategic planning process, a consultation document, ISO Horizon 2010: Standards for Sustainable World, was circulated 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. ISO members were asked to submit consolidated national responses to the document by October 31, 2003, with the feedback received serving to inform the development of ISO's 2005-2010 strategic plan, which is scheduled for adoption by ISO's General Assembly in 2004.

Analysis
As can be clearly seen in the title of the document, ISO continues to push beyond its traditional scope of technical standards setting, and into the social and environmental arenas. Horizon 2010 states, "ISO standards can serve products and services that enter into world trade and that impact on the health, safety, environment and social progress of mankind." And ISO's expansion is not limited to new areas for standardization, but is also focusing on closer collaboration with the WTO, as well as proactive recruitment of developing countries in order to gain larger acceptance of its standards worldwide.

The consultation document is notable in that it identifies stakeholder involvement as a key issue, stating that the organization and its members must seek contributions from stakeholders representing a broad and balanced set of interests both in terms of geographical spread and of market and social groups. 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. As is its norm, ISO have avoided setting any rigid requirements for vetting the document, suggesting instead that members should use the approach and methods that best suit their respective environments.

Geneva Workshop Discusses Link Between International Standardization and Trade [11/24/03]

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 aiming at demonstrating 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.

NGO Alliance Released the Revised Code for Social and Environmental Standards Development [8/5/03]

The ISEAL Alliance, a formal collaboration of international voluntary standard-setting and conformity assessment organizations focused on social and environmental issues, has recently released its second draft of "ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards." Along with the new draft, ISEAL issued a guidance document for the application of the Code. The ISEAL Alliance is seeking comments on this second draft from August 1, 2003 to September 30, 2003.

For more information, contact ISEAL Outreach Coordinator, Abra Brynne, at: secretariat @ isealalliance.org

Code of Good Practice for the Development of Voluntary Standards [4/29/03]

The ISEAL Alliance, a formal collaboration of international voluntary standard-setting and conformity assessment organizations focused on social and environmental issues, has recently initiated a process for the development of best practices for procedures for setting voluntary social and environmental standards. ISEAL is soliciting comments on the draft Code until May 31st 2003, and will be moderating additional discussions on it throughout April and May.

New Publication on NGO Role in International Environmental Cooperation [4/29/03]

A new report on participation of NGOs in international environmental governance has been jointly commissioned by the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) and two research institutes, the Institute for International and European Environmental Research (Ecologic) and the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD). The report includes a case study on ISO, and specifically TC 207.