Useful Links

The ISEAL Alliance is the global association for social and environmental standards. Working with established and emerging voluntary standard systems ISEAL develops guidance and helps strengthen the effectiveness and impact of these standards. ISEAL also work with companies, non-profits and governments to support their referencing and use of voluntary standards.

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The Global Social Compliance Programme is a business-driven programme for the continuous improvement of working and environmental conditions in global supply chains. The GSCP was created by and for global buying companies wanting to work collaboratively on improving the sustainability (ethical, social and environmental) of their often-shared supply base. To this end, these companies are working on harmonizing efforts to deliver a shared, global and sustainable approach based on consensus and best practice. Follow this link to learn more about the GSCP reference tools - reflecting best existing practice and requirements for all steps of a typical social / site-specific environmental practice monitoring system - find out about the GSCP Equivalence Process, and more.

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The Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) is a non-profit association of 27 type-1 ecolabelling organizations around the world. Since its inception in 1994, the reach of the GEN has continued to expand. With GEN members in most parts of the world, the GEN works tenaciously to improve, promote and develop the ecolabelling of products and services on a global scale. Collectively, GEN members have certified well over 100,000 environmentally-preferable products worldwide.

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The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) is a non-profit global consortium of institutions developing and applying an independent measurement tool to analyze the distinct social, environmental and economic impacts of any agricultural practices, particularly those associated with the implementation of specific sustainability programs.

COSA's mission is to co-create, in open partnership, a common language of sustainability measures for agriculture that are widely-shared because they are widely valued.

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The State of Sustainability Initiatives is a project of the Sustainable Commodity Initiative implemented by the International Institute for Sustainable Development; International Institute for Environment and Development; AidEnvironment; United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the ENTWINED Research Consortium. The SSI offers regular reporting on the state of markets and trends in voluntary standards through its sector Reviews and Workshops.

The SSI works in close partnership with the ITC in gathering and disseminating data on voluntary standards for the Standards Map webportal. For more information on the initiative and access to the latest SSI Reviews click on the link below.

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Ecolabel Index is the largest directory of ecolabels, currently tracking over 370 ecolabels in more than 200 countries. This global platform collects and structures data on ecolabels so that buyers and sellers use them more effectively.

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Ekobai.com is a leading B2B database and marketplace for sustainably certified products and suppliers. We have over 65,000 suppliers from over 50 countries, who deal with products and facilities certified to FSC, MSC, PEFC, Fairtrade, SA 8000 and a range of organic and other eco and social certifications. Our database is open to all and free for qualified companies to list on. Users of our site include most of the world’s leading retailers and manufacturers who wish to use sustainable certification as a filter for procurement.

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PProgrammes and projects across the organization enforce ITC's mission which is to forster sustainable development through trade. Here are just some the few ITC programs which promote sustainable developmen.

ITC – The Coffee Guide

ITC – Organic Links

ITC - Trade, Climate Change and Environment Programme

ITC – The Cotton Guide

ITC – Market News and Services

ITC – Ethical Fashion

ITC – Supply Chain Management: Modular Learning System

IFC is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. IFC fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing capital in the international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. IFC believes that good standards that support its private sector development, sustainability, and poverty reduction mandate in developing countries can create a broad “reach”, and this reach can potentially be far greater than financing projects one at a time. This is why standard-setting is now at the core of IFC’s mission. In addition to applying IFC’s Performance Standards for Social and Environmental Sustainability in its investment and advisory services due diligence, IFC supports a number of standard-setting initiatives and Roundtables (e.g. RSPO, RTRS); establishes partnerships and global programs (e.g. Better Work, BACP); and implements a number of targeted interventions with its clients designed to help improve the environment for standards uptake.

IFC has developed SME Toolkit which use the latest information and communication technologies to help small and medium enterprises in emerging markets learn sustainable business management practices.

The Export Helpdesk is an online service, provided by the European Commission, to facilitate market access in particular for developing countries to the European Union.

The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) is a joint initiative in capacity building and technical cooperation aiming at raising awareness on the importance of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues, increasing coordination in the provision of SPS-related assistance, and mobilizing resources to assist developing countries enhance their capacity to meet SPS standards.

COLEACP é uma associação sem fins lucrativos entre profissionais, com o objetivo de representar e defender os interesses coletivos dos produtores dos países da ACP exportadores e importadores da UE de frutas, legumes, flores e plantas.

COLEACP is a non-profit inter-professional association, representing and defending the collective interests of ACP producers/exporters and EU importers of fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. This ‘RESOURCES’ page takes you to statistics, research, publications and other services offered by the WTO.

Established in 1964, UNCTAD promotes the development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy. UNCTAD has progressively evolved into an authoritative knowledge-based institution whose work aims to help shape current policy debates and thinking on development, with a particular focus on ensuring that domestic policies and international action are mutually supportive in bringing about sustainable development. This link takes you to UNCTAD´s technical cooperation at the service of trade and development.

In recent years, the World Bank has begun to increase its involvement in the field of trade related standards, through an expanding portfolio of projects containing components which provide technical assistance and other capacity-building support. Some of this is in the context of broader export promotion programs, while other investments in standards-related capacities are taking place within agricultural services, diversification, and marketing support programs. In addition, the World Bank has a program of analytical research and policy analysis which aims to develop a more detailed understanding of the economic, institutional and policy aspects of standards and trade, including the strategic and policy options available to governments and the private sector in developing countries.

As the IDB expands its sustainability investment, it is better able to support environmental and social goals in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thus it is important for the IDB’s stakeholders to become more familiar with the Bank's sustainability standards and products.

ISEAL builds an understanding of good practices for standards systems and sets internationally applicable good practice guidance for the implementation of credible standards systems. These Codes of Good Practice are applied by leading standards systems and are an ISEAL membership requirement. All combined they are often referred to as Credibility Tools.

Fairfood international advocates the use of standards and other sustainability initiatives to food and beverage producers worldwide in order to increase the level of sustainability within this sector.

Farm Certification Blog is a discussion platform where individuals can learn more and raise questions about general issues surrounding agricultural certification. Many areas of interest are covered: food safety, environment, social aspects on farm, Good Agricultural Practice, sustainability, animal welfare, benchmarking, co-regulation, integrity of certification, different commodities.

The ILO Helpdesk for Business is a one-stop shop for company managers and workers on how to better align business operations with international labour standards and build good industrial relations.