THE PROCESS OF SETTING ISO STANDARDS AND THEIR IMPLICATION

Presentation made by Thomas Hirsch on the basis of a policy paper written by Monika Egger

1. Introduction and questions

Can ISO-standards make a positive contribution to a more sustainable banana industry from production to trade? Do ISO-standards as a multilateral system of rules provide a suitable reference framework for ecological and social standards?

Monika Egger, an economist from Switzerland whom I represent here has tried to find an answer to these questions by order of EUROBAN and the Swiss equivalent to ‘Brot für die Welt’ (‘Bread for the world’) called ‘Brot für alle’ (Bread for all’). I would like to present the preliminary conclusions of her study that she will present for the next banana conference.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Age it has become impossible to work economically without internationally accepted norms and standards. In Europe it was the electrical industry and mechanical engineering industry that launched the process of international standardization at the beginning of this century. The original idea was to establish technical norms for quality protection.

In order to organize an efficient and complex process of setting up technical standards with international validity (a task that had to include many different agents), it was the business sector that took the initiative and founded the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva in 1947. Members of the ISO are national norm associations (118 at the moment) in which different business associations and interest groups are represented. About 800 specified technical committees and working groups develop the particular standards - today there are about 10.000.

National norm associations of so-called Third World countries are also represented in the ISO, among them Costa Rica, Columbia and other banana-producing countries.

The interests and special matters of concern of those countries led to the foundation of the Committee on developing country matters (DEVCO) within the ISO, with 57 full members and 27 representations with observer status. The DEVCO maintains regional offices in Latin America, the Carribean, Africa, Asia and other countries. The DEVCO serves as forum for specific requests of so-called developing countries with regard to ISO-norms.

ISO-norms make the international exchange of goods and services as well as research and development easier. Due to rapid economic globalization the demand for standardized norms is constantly increasing. For the private economy sector as well as for governments and the World Trade Organization (WTO) ISO has become the recognized institute for setting up and evaluating international economic standards.

ISO-norms have a major influence on the development of trade and industry. They are officially accepted by the WTO as private-law agreements (which were volontarily reached) and have some influence on national legislations.

Until recently ISO-norms are almost exclusively concentrated in the technical area. An example would be the certificates of the well-known series ISO-9000 for quality protection. Some standards of this series also refer to the area of employment security and hygiene at work.

As a reaction to the Conference on Environment and Development in Rio in 1992 ISO decided to expand its activities to the setting up of environment norms. There is a plan to give enterprises the possibility of getting a certificate for their environmental conduct. The first norm of this new series ISO-1400 refers to the system of environmental management of an enterprise and was adopted in November 1996.

With reagard to the ISO-environmental standards, that still have to be worked out, ISO is now following a path that is interesting for consumer organizations as well as for lobby groups like the WWF which are active on the environment and development sector. ISO-environment standards are not only aimed at the quality of the final product, but analyse the environmental conduct of a business along the entire product line. As far as bananas are concerned this means that not the state of the banana (length, girth, taste) is of interest here, but rather the entire production process including all stages of production with regard to their environmental compatability. So the ISO-certificate may function as a testimony of the ‘history of the banana’.

For consumers this would imply more information and a better knowledge on production conditions of a particular banana. So they would have better criteria for their decision whether to buy a banana or not. However, it has to be said that the analysis of the social conduct of businesses has not yet been included into the agenda of the ISO.

The environmental engagement of ISO is still young and subject to a great dynamics. It is not yet possible to render a judgment about this process. Apart from new chances it also comprises numerous risks and restrictions.

So is it really worth non-governmental organizations and trade unions increasing their influence on the process of setting up norms of ISO? As a conclusion Monika Egger formulates eight thesis which I would like to take as basis for further discussion.

2. ISO, Trade and Development: Thesis for discussion

Thesis 1

ISO is an internationally recognized private business organization for the setting up of quality standards (norm series 9000) and renewal of environmental norms (ISO 1400).

The observance of these norms is an important condition for market access to world trade which explains why ISO-norms and ISO-certificates are also relevant for the South-North-Trade.

Thesis 2

Environmental and social compatibility of economic action are not a priviledge of the fair-trade-initiatives.

In order to achieve international acceptance of ISO-standards as quality and management norms, the implementation of ISO concentrates on the actions of businesses. Fair-Trade-Intitiatives underline the product approach in order to reach transparency regarding production and marketing conditions of a special product and to control this process. Both approaches - ISO-norms and Fair-Trade-Labels - may be of importance for the economic development in the South and the support of South-North-Trade. (In some cases ISO integrates existing eco-labels, such as the Forest Stewardship Council Label for the timber industry).

Thesis 3

Economic action cannot develop without the integration of human beings and their environment, even if the ‘illusion of the virtual’ seems to be the dominating factor at the moment.

Due to the importance of ISO-norms in the area of quality protection and environmental management the elaboration of an ISO-norm series for the social sector might help to improve the social conduct of businesses and to analyse their social value in line with quality and environmental aspects.

Thesis 4

Production and trade are always directed at the consumer market whereas we, women and men, decide whether to buy a certain product or service or not.

Common lobby work of all active ISO-groups (consumer groups, trade unions, environmental associations) that are interested in transparent and fair-trade products would improve the sensitivity of ISO regarding various interests during the process of setting up norms.

Thesis 5

ISO does not deal with individual products like the banana, but regards action and processes in an enterprise. Dealing with ISO means dealing with businesses that are active on the banana market (multinational cooperations, major importers). The main objective and challenge is the implication of ecologically and socially sound action of those businesses.

Thesis 6

Implementation of standards: As far as the social sector is concerned, ILO-norms (International Labor Organization) are exemplary guidelines for socially responsible action. The problem here is the weekly ratification and implementation of ILO-norms. ISO-norms have a great influence on the conduct of businesses and in many cases even exert influence on legislation.

Many developing countries have national norm associations and are ISO-members. These are more or less integrated into ISO-structures weekly and would surely be interested in the elaboration of common arguments and attempts for the setting up of norms together with lobby partners from the North.

Thesis 7

ISO-norms normally do not go as far as many eco-labels; their application area, however, is valid around the world.

A participation in the process of setting up ISO-norms is labor-intensive and expensive. Contact to ISO has to be established through the national norm associations. This is one possibility to make national norm associations of the North more sensible for Fair-Trade-approaches. A difficult venture that hasn’t been undertaken yet.

Thesis 8

ISO-norms cannot be a substitute for the elaboration and implication of product labels. In the long term, however, the ‘Banana Charta’ might influence the process of setting up ISO-norms on the environmental and social sector.