General Standards and Certification

Useful links

• The European Commission provides help and advice for importers into the European Union including on food safety and other issues.
• WTO Standards and Trade Development Facility is a global programme in capacity building and technical co-operation established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• International Standards Organisation: ISO members
• ISO/IEC Information Centre. The link provides details of, and links to national standards organisations and the information and advice available from them.
• ISEAL is an international non-profit organisation that codifies best practice for the design and implementation of social and environmental standards initiatives. ISEAL Alliance members are leading organisations in social and environmental standard-setting and accreditation, and are committed to compliance with ISEAL Good Practice.  ISEAL provides capacity building and support to its members and to emerging initiatives in meeting the requirements of ISEAL Good Practice, and advocates for voluntary standards as an effective mechanism for achieving positive social and environmental change.
• SAI – Social Accountability International (SAI)’s mission is to promote human rights for workers around the world. It is best known for SA8000 – a comprehensive and flexible system for managing ethical workplace conditions throughout global supply chains. SAI works with companies, consumer groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), workers and trade unions, local governments —as well as a network of agencies accredited for SA8000 auditing, to help ensure that workers of the world are treated according to basic human rights principles.