Toward SuSTainabiliTy: The roleS and limiTaTionS of ... - Resolve

Chapter 1: Setting the Context 10Certification then provides assurance to customersthat the certified products or services meetthe criteria.Although there are many variations in the structureof standards and certification systems, mostsystems have the same basic components carriedout by a similar set of organizations:▪ The standard setter is responsible for settingthe standard and often has responsibility forthe management of the standards system.Other stakeholders are often engaged directlyin the governance of the standard setter. (SeeChapter 2 for a discussion of some of the keystakeholders.)▪ A certification body is responsible for makingdecisions about compliance based on theresults of audits—i.e., reviews or assessmentsto confirm whether the practices or servicesestablished to meet the standard are beingimplemented. Auditors often work for certificationbodies and are responsible for carryingout the audits.▪ An accreditation body is responsible forevaluating the competence of the certificationbody and the auditors.▪ Logo licensing and the marketing of thestandards system are sometimes carried outby a legally separate but linked organization ororganizations.▪ Capacity building of enterprises for certificationis carried out by a range of organizations,some linked to the standard setter and othersindependent.▪ In addition to these activities, organizationsthat participate in the development andimplementation of a standards system engagein a variety of complementary activities, fromadvocacy and awareness-raising to researchand policy making.These types of organizations are illustrated inFigure 1.1. Their key functions and challenges aredescribed in more detail in the remainder of thischapter.Setting the StandardA standards system is built around the standardand the performance requirements containedwithin it. Sustainability standards have traditionallyprescribed the management practices mostlikely to deliver on the desired sustainability results(Tollefson, Gale, & Haley, 2008). For example,where biodiversity conservation is a desired outcomeof a standards system, the standard mayrequire practices such as conservation set-asides,natural vegetation coverage, and buffer zones toachieve that result.Typically, the content of a standard is developedthrough a process of negotiation and compromisebetween subject matter experts and interestedstakeholders. For example, forestry and fisheriesexperts in the FSC and MSC, respectively, participatein technical advisory bodies, translatingconsultation input from nontechnical stakeholdersinto language suitable for inclusion in anauditable standard.In some standard-setting processes, the level ofperformance to be achieved is explicitly definedat the outset. 10 In other cases, general objectivesare set at the beginning and then refinedand finalized by the stakeholders that make upthe standard-setting authority. Either way, standardsetting involves consultation processes thatenable interested stakeholders to participate inthe development of and decision making aroundthe content of the standard. Many sustainabilitystandards systems use the ISEAL Alliance’sStandard-Setting Code of Good Practice as aguideline for setting standards. 11In addition to the content of the standard, akey part of standard setting is determining thestructure or design of the standard. The structurehas significant implications for how the standardis implemented and, by extension, the potentialsustainability impacts resulting from compliance10 e.g., the Common Code for the Coffee Community11 www.isealalliance.org/our-work/codes-of-good-practice/standard-setting-codeToward Sustainability: The Roles and Limitations of Certification