Federal Department of Economic Affairs FDEA

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO

Linking Producers to Markets through Private Voluntary Standards

ISEAL Conference, Zurich, 8 June 2011

Hans-Peter Egler

Head Trade Promotion

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO

Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentTrade Promotion

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Role of Governments in PVS Promotion

EVD/SECO/Trade Promotion – Hans-Peter Egler

Rationale for SECO intervention in PVS

Premise:

Sustainable trade contributes to poverty reduction

Objective:

Integration of developing countries into the world trade system

Driver:

Increased demand from high-price markets not only regarding quality, but also sustainability of production process

Means:

Help producers to respect international agreements as well as Private Voluntary Standards

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Role of Governments in PVS Promotion

EVD/SECO/Trade Promotion – Hans-Peter Egler

Examples of SECO interventions in PVS

1. Seed Funding: Promote standards definition process and/or institutionalization

of standard systems (e.g. Max Havelaar Switzerland; FLO) Encourage multi-stakeholder approach, including developing

country representatives (e.g. 4C; RTRS; BCI; RSB)

2. Capacitiy Building and Simplification of Systems

Improving capacities and training on standards for producers in

developing countries (e.g. OFTCC/Helvetas) Improving capacities in the area of auditing and certification in

developing countries (e.g. Organic/FiBL) Fostering cooperation among PVS to simplify systems and

reduce costs for producers (e.g. ISEAL Scaling up; SCAN)

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Role of Governments in PVS Promotion

EVD/SECO/Trade Promotion – Hans-Peter Egler

Examples of SECO interventions in PVS

3. Information Dissemination and Faciliation of Use of Sustainability Standards in the North :

Awareness raising and development of tools to support use of private voluntary standards in public and private procurement (e.g. Fair Trade Fair; www.kompass-nachhaltigkeit.ch)

4. Impact Assessment

Assess the impact of voluntary standards against economic,

social and environmental criteria and indicators (e.g. COSA)