Risk Management - Articles
Voluntary Sustainability Standards
November 28th 2022
When a product, its production or its shipping meet certain standards of quality, it can obtain a certification. These standards are called Voluntary Sustainability Standards, and they concern specific economic, social and environmental sustainability metrics.
Usually, private companies or non-governmental organizations create these standards which can then be embraced by all the different actors in the value chain.
When it comes to international trading, having these standards helps to promote sustainable development and it can also be useful to facilitate the economic growth of developing countries. In fact, the VSS perfectly apply to many products exported by these countries, like coffee, tee, bananas, cotton and palm oil. The goal of these certifications is to increase the adoption of production processes in line with environmental, social and economic objectives related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
However, these certifications can be expensive and require conditions that are harder to obtain for small companies in low-income countries. That is why the UNCTAD developed a three-stage approach under the project “Fostering green exports through Voluntary Sustainability Standards”, to help these businesses in their strategy planning.
Learn more on Voluntary Sustainability Standards on the UNCTAD website.
