ISO Research Library

According to advocates, eco-certification is a win–win solution to the problem of environmental degradation caused bydeveloping country agriculture, improving both the environmental and the economic performance of farmers. However, these notionalbenefits can be undercut by the tendency of relatively w...

According to traditional wisdom, latecomer countries improve their technological capabilities in reverse of the product cycle, that is from mature towards new technologies. However, improvement of standards capabilities in this process has not been revealed clearly. This paper confirms similar patte...

Product carbon footprinting schemes adopt different analytical methodologies. The calculations can also be affected by limited data availability and uncertainty surrounding the value of key variables. The combination of these factors reduces the validity of comparing carbon footprints between produc...

A growing concern over health risks associated with food products has prompted revisions in sanitary and phyotsanitary standards in industrialized countries. This paper quantifies the impact of standards on aflatoxins implemented by the EU on food exports from African countries. We employ a gravity-...

Several studies have examined the determinants of training in developing countries but only few have paid attention to the potential importance of international standards such as ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 on the firm's training decision. This paper examines training determinants using recent employer su...

This report aims to review those international standards-setting organisations that are of greatest interest to developing countries and to assess ways in which developing country participation can be enhanced. It focuses on five international standards-setting organisations that are of primary inte...

Two types of private voluntary standards used in the food sector are analyzed in this article. Namely, sustainability initiatives that encourage best practice management on farms for environmental, social and economic gains, and also product carbon footprints (PCFs) that estimate the climate impact ...

This article explores the outcomes of Fair Trade for producers, artisans and their organisations. It asks the question, ‘what happens to people who are involved in Fair Trade?’, and reviews the case studies and empirical research conducted on Fair Trade for a range of products in different countries...

Millions of smallholder farmers in developing countries participate in different types of sustainability standards. A growing body of literature has analyzed the welfare effects, with mixed results. Yet, there are important knowledge gaps. First, most existing studies have looked at the effects of o...

This study looks at the experiences of seven coffee producer cooperatives in Latin America with Fair Trade certification, and the benefits they received. Through comparative analysis, the authors find that coffee organizations, communities and producers derive important material and non-material ...

The resurgence of the debate on standardization of labor laws via trade has brought into focus the importance of labeling programs, which are seen as a desirable avenue to remedy weak labor laws in the “South.” This study aims to quantify the impact of the Fairtrade labeling program on the welfare p...

The paper analyses the effects of the US implementing mandatory seafood (HACCP) food safety standards on export partners. The authors first review existing empirical literature on food safety and the potential impact of increased food safety standards on international trade and the seafood market. ...

This trade brief discusses the significance of technical requirements as barriers to trade taking a development perspective. It provides an overview of the situation and why it is difficult for developing countries to implement SPS/TBT measures. The author suggest that the costs of risks assessme...

This study looks at the impacts of EU standards on African Exports of textiles, clothing and footwear, focusing on voluntary technical regulations. The key issue the authors are trying to address is how to limit the costs and negative spillovers that product standards can bring. They contend that...

The article identifies the main causal mechanisms that link sustainability certification to local food security. Existing evidence points to a positive, albeit weak and highly context-dependent, relationship between certification, farmers' income, and local food security. Certification's ...

Sustainability standards are gaining in importance in global markets for high-value foods. While previous research has shown that participating farmers in developing countries may benefit through income gains, nutrition impacts have hardly been analysed. We use survey data from smallholder coffee fa...

This paper reviews existing research on labels and food safety standards (both private and public) and their effects on food and agricultural trade. It argues that perceptions and empirical evidence around the impacts of standards have shifted from principally negative to more mixed results. Accordi...

This paper examines the importance of standards in influencing whether firms in developing countries export opportunities agricultural and food products. Overall, the authors demonstrate that more stringent SPS standards in importing markets have a negative effect on developing country firm expor...

There is a growing body of literature that analyses the implications of private food standards for developing countries. Most of this literature has focused on the trade effects of standards and on the effects on exporters and producers. Very few studies have looked at the effect of standards for wo...

This paper provides empirical support for the view that international harmonization can reduce possible negative impacts of product standards on developing country exporters. It focuses on the extensive margin of trade (new products), asking whether harmonization can promote an increase in export va...