The latest draft of the International Organization for Standardization(ISO)’s ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility was approved by the ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility last Friday (May 21, 2010) at its final meeting in Copenhagen. The guidance may be finalized by the end of 2010. As an importer/retailer, it could mean reduced costs for individual factory inspections if the factories become ISO 26000 compliant. For manufacturers and exporters, it could mean reduced costs and visits by buyers/importers’ inspections for CSR compliance. In fact, some countries are considering adopting these “guidelines” as the law of the land.
The “guidance” is different from a standard only in that instead of saying “shall” it says “should” and “may” and is not intended or appropriate for certification purposes. However, this “International Standard Guidance” comes at a time when a significant segment of industry is calling for a harmonized standard on corporate social responsibility, and a uniform auditing & certification standard to relieve them of the “audit fatigue” currently experienced by many around the world.
So, what might the new ISO 26000 mean for the world of “corporate social responsibility (CSR)” and U.S. companies and consumers concerned about ethical standards? At best, the new ISO Guidance will help streamline the cacophony of existing CSR audits and certification systems to a more uniform system that’s aligned to an internationally-agreed set of guidelines, reducing costs while, hopefully, making the supply chains more responsible. At worst, it will be an additional “standard” that results in another “certification” requirement for facilities — another certificate posted alongside the many existing codes and certificates found in factory floors — adding cost but with no tangible results in supply chain practices.
The Guidance comes as a result of a long multi-stakeholder process, begun in Jan 2005 to develop an International Standard providing guidelines for social responsibility. Experts from more than 90 countries and 40 international or broadly-based regional organizations took part in the process, including representatives from consumer groups, governments, industry, labor, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and academic institutions.
Whatever the final outcome, retailers, brands, importers and exporters concerned about social responsibility should become familiar with the new Guidance. In the end, it will be the users who determine exactly what the new ISO standard is good for, and how it will impact the world of CSR.
Stay tuned for details of ST&R’s upcoming webinars on the ISO 26000, where we will provide our analysis of the new Guidance and possible implications for different stakeholders, focusing on retailers (June 24th) and manufacturers (July 8th).
For more information, contact Donna Chung at dchung@strtrade.com.
