International sustainability certification
Introduction
Sustainability Standards and Certifications are voluntary norms and standards, usually evaluated by third parties, related to environmental, social, ethical and food safety issues, and adopted by companies to demonstrate the performance of their organizations or products in specific areas. There are perhaps more than 500 standards and the pace of introduction has increased in the last decade. The trend began in the late 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of organic labels and standards for organic food and other products. In recent years, a large number of standards have been established and adopted in the food industry in particular. Most of them refer to the triple bottom line of environmental quality, social equity and economic prosperity.[1] A standard is typically developed by a wide range of stakeholders and experts in a given sector, and includes a set of practices or criteria for how a crop should be sustainably grown or a resource should be ethically harvested. This could include, for example, responsible fishing practices that do not endanger marine biodiversity, or respect for human rights and the fair payment of wages on a coffee or tea plantation. Sustainability standards are usually accompanied by a verification process – often referred to as “certification” – to evaluate that the company meets a standard, as well as a process of tracking certified products to be sold throughout the supply chain that often results in a label directed to the consumer. Certification programs also focus on building capacity and working with partners and other organizations to support disadvantaged smallholder farmers to make the social and environmental improvements necessary to meet the standard.
Definition and objectives
The basic premise of sustainability standards is twofold. First, they emerged in areas where national and global legislation was weak but where consumer movements and NGOs around the world demanded action. For example, campaigns by Global Exchange[2] and other NGOs against the purchase of "slave labor" goods by Nike, Levi Strauss & Co. and other leading brands led to the emergence of social welfare standards such as the SA8000"), among others. Second, leading brands selling to consumers and the B2B supply chain may want to demonstrate the environmental or organic merits of their products, which has led to the emergence of hundreds of eco-friendly, organic and other labels. standards. A prominent example of a consumer standard is the Fair Trade Seal movement, administered by FLO International"), and exhibiting the enormous growth in sales around the world of ethically sourced products.[3] An example of a B2B standard that has grown greatly over the past few years is the Forest Stewardship Council's standard) for forest products made from sustainably harvested trees.