Market Analysis Tools and Services - UNCTAD Virtual Institute

Classification of Standards
Various perspectives to classify private standards…
• Are the standards based on multi-stakeholders participation
• Do the standards stand for certification or verification
• Is there a specific claim associated with the standard – in which case is it
on-product or off-product (B2B versus B2C)
• Are the standards specific to certain products, industries and countries, or
do they apply across sectors and countries
• Do the standards verify/certify themselves, or is there an independent
certification process
• Is there formal accreditation of the certification/verification bodies
• Do the standards focus primarily on specific areas – such as biodiversity,
labor rights, food safety…
• What are the implementation mechanisms used by the standards –
centralised versus de-centralised...
Classification of Standards
Main components of the standards database