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Consumers call for greater awareness of ISO environmental labelling and other standards to promote sustainable consumption

2006-05-31

The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) Committee for consumer policy, COPOLCO, is recommending that ISO raise awareness of the benefits of its environmental labelling standards.

At the COPOLCO event, from left: Ms. Jai Ok Kim, Chair of ISO/COPOLCO; Ms. Mariani Mohammad, Director General, Department of Standards Malaysia; Honourable Professor Mohd Ruddin Abdul Ghani, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia; Mr. Alan Bryden, ISO Secretary-General.

 

The recommendation was formulated at the COPOLCO workshop, hosted by the Department of Standards Malaysia (DSM) and the Malaysian Association of Standards Users on 24 May 2006 in Kuala Lumpur on the theme of How can environmental standards help promote sustainable consumption?

Some 100 representatives from business, government, consumer associations, standards bodies, industry and media from throughout the world, as well as international organizations, attended the Kuala Lumpur workshop.

The event examined current practices and new trends which affect how the consumer is informed on how product life cycles and use impact the environment. It also considered what actions might improve outcomes from the consumer's perspective.

Topics included, among others, product life cycle management for environmental protection and sustainable development, sustainable production of agricultural and manufactured goods and services and ensuring consumer confidence in environmental and other claims and information.

In the view of many workshop speakers and participants, a wide range of stakeholders, including regulators, industry, consumer groups, environmental NGO’s and other concerned stakeholders, stand to win from the implementation of ISO environmental labelling and other ISO standards with a view to promoting sustainable production and consumption.

Environmental labels and declarations can help consumers make decisions about the products they buy and whether they are environmentally preferable. The desired change in consumer demand as a result of environmental labels and declarations is expected to be economically rewarding for those firms which have fulfilled the requirements of the standard on the basis of which the label has been awarded.

"Environmental labelling is here and now, impacting businesses of all sizes," said Bill Dee, Chair of the ISO subcommittee that developed the standards.

"Environmental labelling is a key trade issue and often determines whether products will be accepted in an importing country. The ISO suite of standards can provide benchmarks to ensure that consumers are not mislead about environmental benefits claimed on labels."

ISO's work on environmental labelling emerged from concerns from ISO/COPOLCO about the lack of compatibility between various eco-labelling schemes around the world. This resulted in the establishment of a new subcommittee within ISO technical committee ISO/TC 207, Environmental management – SC 3, Environmental labelling – and the development of a series of standards on environmental labels and declarations.

"The use of the ISO eco-labelling standard (ISO 14024) supports the development of consistent eco-labelling schemes as instruments to assist consumer choice and, thereby enabling them to contribute to sustainable development," said ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden.

"It was most encouraging at this workshop to see industry, businesses, consumer organizations and the standards community highlighting the importance of ISO environmental labelling standards in helping to promote sustainable consumption."