ISO (International Organization for Standardization) has launched an online message board to provide further input for debate at the COPOLCO (ISO's committee on consumer policy) workshop on Corporate Social Responsibility - Concepts and Solutions, which will take place on 10 June 2002 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
The message board provides a platform for dialogue in the run-up to the workshop which aims to explore the possible role of standards (developed through the formal standards system, at the national and international level) to articulate and promote the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It will also serve as input to the COPOLCO working group, "Consumer protection in the global market", currently studying ISO standards for this area.
The message board provides participants with information on many relevant new developments, insight and commentary generated by ISO's Corporate Social Responsibility and Standards Forum launched in August 2001. It will act as a repository of previous and current contributions to the Forum - a worldwide discussion which has already attracted 370 participants from all parts of the world, with more participants anticipated to join by the start of the COPOLCO workshop.
"The Forum comprises participants from all around the world, some with standards experience, some without, from consumer organizations, business, non-governmental groups, government, and academia, from both developed and developing countries, so there is an incredible wealth of perspectives and experiences to draw on," said Dr. Kernaghan Webb, Facilitator of the CSR and ISO Standards Online Forum and Chief of Research and Senior Legal Policy Advisor at the Canadian Office of Consumer Affairs. "The Forum should contribute to a more well-rounded and up to date understanding of issues and initiatives concerning corporate social responsibility and the role of ISO standards in addressing these issues."
It is envisaged that the message board will increase awareness and promote constructive discussion of new and existing corporate social responsibility initiatives (whether or not they are subsequently developed through the standards systems), and their relevance to existing or potential standards projects.
"The Forum should be a particularly important venue for those in the standards community, but also those who are curious about the standards community, to learn more about corporate social responsibility and ISO. Users will hopefully benefit by learning about current corporate social responsibility initiatives which could be relevant to the development of CSR standards, by posing questions and learning from the comments of their fellow Forum members.
"Many of the messages are updates on CSR standards initiatives (e.g., the development of CSR ethics standards in certain jurisdictions) currently underway around the world, or initiatives which could be relevant to the development of CSR standards (e.g., statistics showing increasing interest of consumers in CSR activity of corporations or changes in laws which stimulate CSR activity," further notes Dr. Kernaghan Webb.
One of COPOLCO's working groups dealing with "Consumer protection in the global market" will study the matter further and distribute its draft report to members of the CSR Forum for reaction and comment. ISO/COPOLCO will then consider the report and make a recommendation to ISO Council as to whether to proceed with development of ISO CSR standards, and what form they should take.
Created as a result of a recommendation emanating from a COPOLCO meeting last year, the Forum operates as a list-serve. E-mail postings are sent to every member of the Forum, and there is no cost to participate. New contributions will continue to be accepted until the COPOLCO workshop and, once received, will be posted on the ISO/CSR message board.