private standards and market access: a mapping exercise in the textiles and apparel sector...

Private Standards and Market Access: A Mapping Exercise in the Textiles and

Apparel Sector

NORAD/UNIDO Project on Private Standards

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPECOMMITTEE ON TRADE

Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation andStandardization Policies

Seventeenth session, Panel Session 3Geneva, 3-4 November 2008

Müge Dolun

UNITED NATIONSINDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTORGANIZATION

Reducing poverty through sustainable industrial growth

Where do we stand?

• Private sector was always the driving force behind standardization

• But there is still a number of definitions used for what a private standard is

• Literature survey identifies two main strings: on food sector (not just FSMS); “green” and “blue” standards

• Less information on other sectors, market prevalence of schemes, what they entail

• Still less information on how to implement – proprietary information for commercial use



Rationale

• Lessons learned from technical assistance projects

• Emerging needs of developing country exporters for practical information



The private sector is in the driving seat…

• Private standards dictated by TNCs and international supply chains are becoming important barriers to trade.

• The relationship between private-sector standards developers and the public sector has been strengthening.

• Private standards allow TNCs and major retailers to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and control/rationalise their suppliers, gaining a competitive advantage.

• They cannot be easily tackled as part of multilateral trade negotiations in the present setting.

• In terms of technical cooperation for capacity building, working with lead firms in international supply chains is critical but remains a challenge



A practical ‘guidebook’ to emerging private standards to help developing country manufacturers and suppliers to respond to the growing importance of compliance with private standards in export markets.

An assessment of implications of emerging private standards vis-à-vis other barriers to trade

Identification of venues of more effective cooperation with leading private sector firms and more focused formulation of technical assistance projects

Objective



Market access and standards

Mandatory requirements/ Technical regulations

Voluntary standards:

- International Standards

- Consortia/Association standards- NGO standards- Company standards/codes of conduct

Quality specifications

Test methods

Social Accountability

Environmental Management

Management System



Components of the methodology

Component Concern

Mapping/scoping through publicly available information and certification companies

Information availability and transparencyReadiness of certification companies to contributeProduct/process/management system standards, only consortia and NGO standards, only environmental/social/sustainable development/organic?

Sectoral case studies Regional representationMethodology – inventory, comparing market prevalence of schemes, implementation issues/differences?

Buyer surveys How to convince big buyers to take part?Concentrate on only big retailers or also middlemen?

Value-chain approach



H&M

Two sets of requirements: Labor

Environmental (list of restricted substances Member of AFIRM

Easy access to the documents that are available in 21 languages

No indication on how to apply to the scheme.

Declared program to promote and increase the use of organic cotton

Source: UNIDO background paper (Pierre Hauselmann, Pi Consulting 2008)



Oeko tex

Oeko tex is a labelling scheme.The standards are set by scientific institutes related to the textile industry with apparently minimum stakeholder input.While intended to satisfy the European market, (mainly German speaking countries) it applies to suppliers globally. Application procedures and formats are available online.There are verification institutes in many countries.

Source: UNIDO background paper (Pierre Hauselmann, Pi Consulting 2008)



The study will concentrate developing the methodology only in the textile sector, to be applied to other manufacturing sectors.

At the moment this pilot survey among garment exporters in Turkey is being initiated. Substantive support of the Textile Exporters Association and the Chamber of Commerce is being discussed.

While it is clear that the current project financed by Norad and implemented by UNIDO will result in a practical inventory, the development, dissemination and updating of such information will require strong partnerships with other organizations especially with ITC, TSWG, UNCTAD, UNECE, UNDP and ISEAL project, Sippo, CBI and the Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises (HSH).

Way forwardConclusions of the 1st EGM



Thank you!

For questions and comments:Müge Dolun

Associate Industrial Development OfficerTrade Capacity Building Branch

UNIDOE-mail: [email protected]

Tel: +43 1 26026 3035Website: http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=5815

private standards and market access: a mapping exercise in the textiles and apparel sector...

Documents

emerging private standards

driving seat private

leading private sector

food sector

public sector

terms of technical cooperation

proprietary information

international supply