IISD - Standards, Labelling and Certification

This paper looks at two kinds of standards and labels relevant to climate change and trade: product standards and labels, and those based on processes and production methods (PPMs). • Product standards and labels, both voluntary and mandatory, are widely used around the world to address market information failures, principal agent problems and other barriers to dissemination of high efficiency products. There’s a great need for international efforts to harmonize product standard-related procedures and norms in a way that both facilitates trade and benefits the environment. That said, such efforts will be difficult, and harmonization should not come at the expense of flexibility for ambition by individual states. • Both product and PPM-based standards can present obstacles for developing country exporters, who need better information on the standards and regulations relevant to their products. WTO practice on notification has been unsatisfactory and needs to be improved to target the needs of developing countries. • Technical and financial assistance may be necessary for developing country exporters to meet new standards, and should be provided by developed countries as per their obligations under the WTO and UNFCCC. • Any efforts to promote standards, whether voluntary or mandatory, should involve a wide variety of stakeholders including, inter alia, affected exporters.