More data added to Standards Map

Data from four major organizations has been included in the International Trade Centre’s (ITC) Standards Map, providing users of the web platform with even greater access to standards, codes and sustainability framework systems.

The initiatives that have been included in Standards Map are United Nations Global Compact, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, USDA National Organic Program, and Intertek Workplace Conditions Assessment.

ITC is already collaborating with more than 100 partner organizations and providing their data through the Standards Map website. Standards Map offers comprehensive and comparable information on voluntary standards, codes of conduct and sustainability frameworks using more than 750 criteria for analysis, as well as a ‘comparison tool’ that enables users to make analyses, comparisons and reviews of sustainability frameworks using a unique set of social, environmental and economic criteria, audit best practices and good governance models.

The main objective of Standards Map is to strengthen the capacity of producers, exporters and buyers to participate in more sustainable production and trade.

The newcomers on Standards Map

Launched in 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is both a policy platform and a practical framework for companies that are committed to sustainability and responsible business practices. A multi-stakeholder leadership initiative, it seeks to align business operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to catalyse actions in support of broader UN goals. With 7,000 corporate participants in over 135 countries, it is the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative. [http://www.unglobalcompact.org/]

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are the most comprehensive government-backed code-of-conduct that enterprises are invited to observe wherever they operate. They provide principles and standards of responsible business conduct in relation to human rights, financial and non-financial disclosure, employment and industrial relations, environment, combating bribery, consumer interests, science and technology, competition, and taxation. [http://www.oecd.org/daf/inv/mne/oecdguidelinesformultinationalenterprises.htm]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) manages public, voluntary standards for organic products. Administered by the USDA National Organic Program, these standards regulate the production, handling, labelling, trade, and enforcement of all USDA organic products. The development and amendments to these standards, commonly referred to as rulemaking, involves input from the National Organic Standards Board (a Federal Advisory Committee made up of fifteen members of the public) and the public. In 2011 17,281 organic farms and processing facilities in the United States were certified to the USDA organic regulations. Worldwide, there were 28,386 certified organic operators across 133 countries. [http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=ORGANIC_CERTIFICATIO] 

The INTERTEK Workplace Conditions Assessment (WCA) is a software-based platform that enables automated data collection leading to ratings based measurable audit results. Users of the WCA have access to invaluable data mining tools that can help set performance metrics which are capable of being benchmarked against global, industry, and country averages. As of January 2013, there were more than 8,000 participating facilities in the WCA program. [http://intertek.com/consumer/auditing/wca/]

Register on Standards Map to take full advantage of the data available.
http://www.standardsmap.org/