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Forest Stewardship Council Joins Pioneers in setting Highest Standards for Ethical Trade - October 17th, 2007
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and six other organisations have reached the highest standards for credible behaviour in ethical trade by complying with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards [1].
On October 11, 2007, at a private event at Chatham House, London, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and six other ISEAL members were commended for their commitment to best practice by Richard Howitt , a Member of the European Parliament [2]. The ISEAL Code of Good Practice is the international reference for setting credible voluntary social and environmental standards. ISEAL Alliance members are the first organisations to be fully compliant with this Code of Good Practice.
Richard Howitt, Member of the European Parliament:
“The ISEAL Alliance is a leading example of collaboration between labelling initiatives. Its members’ compliance with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice gives a clear sign to both governments and industry that these initiatives are the leaders in the field, backed by credible standards and capable of delivering genuine social and environmental change.”
The ISEAL Code of Good Practice is referenced by a range of governmental and inter-governmental guidelines as the measure of credibility for voluntary social and environmental standards.
Compliance with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice both to strengthen the organisations’ own social and environmental initiatives, and to encourage other standard-setters to commit to industry best practice for setting social and environmental standards.
Andre Giacini de Freitas, Forest Stewardship Council:
“FSC is engaged in the ISEAL Alliance because it believes cooperation is key to the success of certification systems. It also complies with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards because it believes it adds to the quality of FSC's work and to the credibility of certification in general.”
Members of the ISEAL Alliance [3] have made changes to their practices [4] in order to comply with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice and ensure they create standards that are developed in transparent, multi-stakeholder processes, certification schemes that consumers can trust, and relevant, high level performance criteria that create genuine social and environmental change.
The ISEAL Code of Good Practice requires that standards be set in open, transparent, participatory processes. It demands there must be a demonstrable need for the standard and includes measures to ensure that even the most marginalised stakeholders have a say in the standard’s development.
Compliance with this Code strengthens standards and certification systems such as FSC with regards to their credibility, relevance and ability to deliver meaningful social and environmental change.
For further information, pictures, background material and interviews please visit www.isealalliance.org/code or contact:
• Lucy Glover, Communications and Events Manager, ISEAL Alliance: Tel. +44 (0)20 3246 0066 / +447866; lucy@isealalliance.org
• Nina Haase, Communications Manager, FSC International Center, Bonn, Germany: Tel. +49 228 367 66 29; n.haase@fsc.org
Notes to Editors:
Video release available at www.isealalliance.org/code
[1] The ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards was developed through open consultation and is the international reference for setting credible voluntary social and environmental standards. It is referenced by a range of governmental and inter-governmental guidelines as the measure of credibility for recognising voluntary standards. Recent references to the Code include:
• FAO Guidelines on Ecolabelling of Marine Fishery Products (2005)
• World Bank-WWF Alliance criteria for assessing forest certification schemes (2006)
• European Parliament resolution of 13 March 2007 on corporate social responsibility
The ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards is available to download in full along with case studies from organisations in compliance at www.isealalliance.org/code.
[2] Richard Howitt is the European Parliament’s spokesperson on Corporate Social Responsibility. www.richardhowittmep.com
[3] International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance Members: Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO) International, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), International Federation of Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Marine Aquarium Council (MAC), Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Rainforest Alliance, Social Accountability International (SAI) www.isealalliance.org/whoweare
[4] Examples of changes made to implement the Code of Good Practice are available by request and on the ISEAL website – www.isealalliance.org/code
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