ECA Training Workshop on Trade and EnvironmentJune 5 – 8, 2006, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

ECO LABELLING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT by Kwadwo Tutu

OUTLINE

1. Ecolabeling » Concept and Definitions

2. International Trade and the Ecolabeling

3. Ecolabelling and Sustainable Development

International Trade and Eco labelling

HistoryThe 70’

Environmental and Ecological Accidents

Worries about health and the Environment (consumers and

government)

End 70’ and 80’

Concept « Green Purchase »

Birth of the first Ecolabels

(Blue Angel : 1977)

And Other Ecolabels

The 90’

Need for Standardization

Implementations of the the ISO Standards to control Ecolabeling

Attitude Change

Consumer • Integral part of commercial exchanges• Legitimate interest in the trade structure

Worker Work Environment social Justice Institutional change

Market • Free • ‘right-to-know’

World Trade Organization

WTO Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), established in Marrakech April 15th, 1994 has a mandate ”to identify the relationship between trade measures and environmental measures in order to promote sustainable development”

World Trade Organization

• Agreement on Technical Barriers of Trade

• Any Country could take needed measures to ensure the quality of their exports for:

1. Environmental Protection

2. Against malpractices

Doha Work-Program Declaration

Doha Ministerial Declaration 2001: “We are convinced that the aims of upholding and safeguarding an open and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, and acting for the protection of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development can and must be mutually supportive.”

Well-Known Ecolabelling Programs

The Blue Angel programme in Germany The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) The Fairtrade Labelling Organizations

International (FLO) The International Federation of Organic

Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).

ECOLABELLING

Concepts and Definitions

Environmental Performance Labels: ISO Definitions

Type I Labels1. Compare products in same

category2. award labels environmentally

preferable throughout life cycle. 3. A volunteer Program4. Multi-criteria5. Certified by third Party

Type II Informative environmental

declaration by Enterprise. Not independently verified For example, A label claiming that

a product is ‘biodegradable’ without defining this term is a Type II label.

Type III Environmental declaration through

quantitative information Information based on parameters

from third party given a product lifecycle analysis

These labels are similar to nutrition labels on food products that detail fat, sugar or vitamin content.

LIFECYCLEDistribution

Product use

Valorization of Used Products

Raw Materials and Energy

ManufacturingDistributors

Users

Providers

Manufacturers

Local Authorities and professionals

MULTI-CRITERIA Criteria : Credible, Relevant,

Feasible, and Measurable/Verifiable Independence: Third Party

Certification Flexibility: Market Mutations and

Technological Advances Compliance: ISO 14020, and

14024

STANDARDSISO 14020: Directives

for environmental labels

Exactitude Avoid unnecessary

trade barriers Information on the

enterprise methodology

Lifecyle Approach

Allow innovative actions

Minimize administrative inefficiency

Voluntary and consensual procedures

Information on products

STANDARDS ISO 14020: Directives for

Ecolabelling Programs Voluntary System Compliance with ISO

14020 Compliance with

existing legislation Full lifecycle

considerations Measurable Criteria

with available technology

Verifiable Criteria with a determined schedule

Comparable product quality with similar ones

Information on Products

Ecolabeling BoardMinistry of Environment

Members Appointing

Voting on Criteria

Certification Unit

Manufacturer

Licensing Demand

Environmental Agency:

CITET

Technical Assistance

Criteria Devlp.

Independence

Tec

h.

Man

agem

ent

Transparence

Ecolabel Management Structure

Adm. Management

Labels in TextilesFiber Citoyenne in Morocco and Tunisia

Provide guidelines and tools to enterprises and their customers on quality, environment and social responsibility over textile lifecyle

Began in June 2005

Objectives: Integration of Sustainable Development Strategy in

the business plan of Textile SME’s; Reliable Social & Environmental quality of Textile

SME’s; Extension of Social & Environmental

requirements to upstream and downstream suppliers;

Competitiveness of the textile products; Sustainable Procurement on Textile trade.

Country Members: France, Morocco and Tunisia.

Bio Cotton Promotion in West Africa

Sponsor: Helvetas (Swiss NGO, 22 countries, 43’000 members)

Objectives:1. Contribution to sustainable

development of textile sector2. Promotion of Bio Cotton and

development of fair trade of cotton products in Switzerland and Europe

Bio Cotton Promotion Switzerland Figures1. Annual consumption of cotton

products of 55,000 tons2. Bio cotton in 2003 is 1,500

tons (2.7%)3. Bio Cotton in 2007 (target):

2,750 tons (5%)

Helvetas Program 2002-2005 (target of 1,560 tons)

Mali: 230 Burkina Faso: 70 Kirghizie: 50 Senegal: 10

Total of 360 tons of Bio Cotton (Gap of 1,200 tons)

Eco labels and Sustainable Development

Promoting Sound Environmental Management

Promoting Economic enhancement through

1. Increased access of niche markets

2. Increased Prices

Social Benefits

Social responsibility of enterprises

Welfare benefits of employees

Employees’ decisions respected

Shortcomings of Ecolabelling

consumers’ willingness to pay for environmentally preferable products exists.

anecdotal evidence generally suggests that price premia (where they exist) are often not sustained.

Not enough evidence to support definitive claims for ecolabelling, either positive or negative.

Lack of independent data on its trade and economic effects.

Shortcomings of Ecolabelling Lack of data to determine who receives

the economic benefits derived from ecolabelling if these benefits exist? Is it the producers, middlemen or retailers, and in what proportions?

Not enough independent sources of quantitative information to conclude on the relative environmental effectiveness of any of the five selected ecolabelling programmes.

Research Needs Need for data to verify claims

One Certainty is that if Ecolabels had existed for timber harvest, most African countries would still have forests

THANK YOU