unfss

About UNFSS

The United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) is a joint initiative of 5 UN Agencies (FAO, ITC, UNCTAD, UN Environment and UNIDO) that seeks to address these challenges. It is a demand-driven forum for intergovernmental actors to communicate among each other and engage with key target groups (producers, traders, consumers, standard-setters, certification-bodies, trade diplomats, relevant NGOs and researchers) to address their information needs and influence concerned stakeholders. It aims to provide impartial information, analysis, and discussions on VSS and their potential contribution to facilitate market access, strengthen public goods and achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Most importantly, the UNFSS focuses on potential trade or development obstacles VSS may create, with particular emphasis on their impact on SMEs and less developed countries.

July 24, 2019

Integrating small-scale producers into sustainable value chains is a collective effort

  Linking small-scale producers in developing countries to larger lucrative markets via integrating them into global value chains are widely recognized as valuable ways to boost the economy hence, poverty reduction. Small-scale producers are by far the majority of farmers in the world, in some estimates producing 70% of the world’s food[1]. Thus, promoting exports of products in compliance with sustainability measures accounting the inclusivity of small-scale producers, became a major policy goal in many emerging economies due to

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April 11, 2019

Assessing the Perception and Willingness towards VSS

The considerable diversity of priorities associated with the uptake of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) have captured significant interests for researchers to analyze the drivers that stimulated stakeholders to be certified (or not). Given the unclear distribution of benefits resulting from these sustainability certifications, smallholder farmers are striking economic actors in the value chains that have expressed unprecedented concerns. This is not to say that they do not see the value of adapting sustainability measures into their operations, but rather concerns

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April 5, 2019

FiBL report: Group Certification. Internal Control Systems in Organic Agriculture: Significance, Opportunities and Challenges

About 80% of the world’s organic producers are smallholders in low and middle income countries, for whom individual certification would be unaffordable and administratively too complex to manage. These producers are recognised as organic due to group certification, a system in which groups of farmers implement an Internal Control System (ICS) and are certified by a third party certification body, which assesses the performance of the ICS and performs a representative number of spot-check inspections of group members. The approach

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March 5, 2019

Enriching Good VSS Benchmarking Practices through Global Consultations

Time to opt for Good Practices in Benchmarking Sustainability The essence of defining good practices underlines the replication of applying accumulated knowledge and experiences to new situations. Identifying such models can be adapted to improve any discovery of unanticipated challenges. As we start to recognise the growing prevalence of sustainability issues addressed by participants along the global supply chains, governments and civil society are seeking mechanisms to evaluate sustainability performance through the advent of good practices. Supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft

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February 21, 2019

Resurfacing Biodiversity, from a Sustainability Standards Perspective

Nearly half of the world’s population is directly dependent on biodiversity for their livelihoods. Today over 3.2 billion people depend on biodiversity for their livelihoods, but the globe’s biodiversity resources are being depleted at an alarming rate. In Europe alone, the cost of biodiversity loss is estimated about 3% of its GDP, or €450m (£400m), a year [1]. “If we are going to address the issue of biodiversity, we also have to look at the fundamental issues

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December 3, 2018

Andean Community expands its Sustainable Exports scope to Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador.

On June 2018, the Andean Community Secretariat, together with UNFSS launched its first dialogue in Peru on ‘Sustainable Trade between Peru and the EU’ with the inception to support Peruvian SMEs exporters and policy makers into implementing sustainable measures in order to access the lucrative EU’s renowned “Sustainable” market. UNFSS supports three key outcomes in the region, policy dialogue among national and regional VSS stakeholders, research and analysis in the region, and capacity building activities to promote sustainable exports from

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November 20, 2018

Indonesia to ignite a national dialogue on VSS

Indonesia, represented by Badan Standardidasi Nasional (BSN) has been part of the UNFSS’s National Initiative network since 2016. BSN has been involved in several VSS-related activities and have also witnessed the launch of their counterpart’s National Platform. This November, Indonesia will be taking a leap forward into establishing an informed dialogue on VSS at national level. In collaboration with the German Development Institute (DIE) Managing Global Governance (MGG) programme, the International Seminar “Public Awareness and Internal Meeting on Voluntary Sustainability

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November 5, 2018

ISO launches tool that maps International Standards to SDGs

Recognizing the immense value of international standards can make, ISO recently launched a campaign to inform members, policy makers, businesses and organizations on how ISO standards can contribute to the United Nations Development Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). A dedicated section on its Website features a mapping tool that highlights more than 600 standards that contribute directly to achieving the Goals, as well as an informative brochure. It is intended to serve as a valuable resource

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October 16, 2018

NTMs Week expert-meeting summary on “UNFSS 3rd Flagship Report on VSS, Trade and Sustainable Development”

NTMs Week expert-meeting summary on: “UNFSS 3rd Flagship Report on VSS, Trade and Sustainable Development” Thursday 11th October 2018, 11.30am-1pm. Watch recorded session here UNFSS Coordinator and UNCTAD Senior Economist, Santiago Fernandez de Cordoba delivered an introductory presentation highlighting the key components of UNFSS as a neutral, independent platform to harness the potentials of VSS to achieve the SDGs, mainly through facilitating developing countries’ access to the global markets and stimulating well-informed policy dialogue among key stakeholders on the national and international level.

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October 4, 2018

Key Takeaway From the International Convention on Sustainable Trade and Standards (ICSTS), New Delhi India

With around 500 participants, the International Convention on Sustainable Trade and Standards (ICSTS) welcomed over 20 nationalities from diverse sectors along the supply chain. The convention in itself addresses 12 key topics through panel discussions, from the challenges of multiplicity to the challenges of global value chains connected to social accountability. discusses thematic sessions on ways to strengthen multi-stakeholder initiatives and responsible sourcing decisions in agri-food, fisheries, textiles and forestry, each of which were chaired by the UNFSS Steering Committee members. raises

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