WWF Only To Work With Certifications Which Are ISEAL Memberff
15 October 2013
United Kingdom
One of the world’s major environmental groups, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), has given its full support to those certifications on sustainability standards that hold a full membership of ISEAL. The ISEAL Alliance aims to strengthen sustainability standards systems for the benefit of people and the environment. Through membership in ISEAL, standards systems show a commitment to supporting a unified movement of sustainability standard. The MSC certification, which covers several tuna fisheries, holds full membership with the alliance; other certifications within the tuna industry, such as EII and FOS, are not members.
The WWF has backed the values of this monitoring body that manages the membership of several eco-labels such as Fairtrade, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
Richard Holland, WWF market transformation initiative director, said: “Full ISEAL membership is one of WWF’s key requirements for credible certification schemes.â€
ISEAL full members are standard-setting organizations and accreditation bodies that are leaders in a growing number of sectors, including fisheries, agriculture, forestry, biofuels, textiles and mining. They have all had to embrace the ten ISEAL Credibility Principles which are: sustainability, improvement, relevance, rigor, engagement, impartiality, transparency, accessibility, truthfulness and efficiency.
ISEAL’s Credibility Principles were finalized in mid-2013 after a year-long multi-stakeholder consultation on five continents that engaged more than 400 individuals from NGOs, governments, businesses, producer groups, consumer organizations and certification systems.
Being a member of ISEAL means that MSC tuna products can be tracked and traced and evidence can be provided by ISEAL on its commitment to sustainability. This gives the eco-label credibility as its vow to the principles is rigorously checked.
ISEAL states: “Full members are sustainability standards that have demonstrated a high level of compliance with ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice, verified through independent evaluation and peer review processes. Through systems that are proven to be credible and effective, they commit to continuously improving their impacts.
