Heed ecolabeling rules, manufacturers told
JAKARTA (JP): Both the current and the former environment minister are warning industrialists that if they do not heed the trend of the global market and begin producing environmentally friendly goods, they will loose out in the arena of international competition.
"Whether we like it or not, that is the wind of change," Emil Salim told participants at a seminar on ecolabeling and the global environment yesterday.
Emil said running a business now needs more than just efficient production strategies but also a willingness and ability to protect the environment and the rights of their workers.
He said that global consumers do not just consume products, but are now concerned about the impact the producers are making on the lives of their workers and the environment.
Before buying a product, they now ask: Does its manufacture harm the environment? Are the company's workers treated with respect? Are they free to unionize? How much are they earning?
These concerns for the environment and human rights, Emil said, exist among consumers in the world's biggest market -- the developed countries.
The business community should pay attention to the trend so as not to be taken by surprise by outside pressure such as the recent U.S. threat to revoke the nation's inclusion in the GSP (generalized system of preferences), he said.
"Catch the wind of change and act," he said. "Don't react only to pressure."
The importance of environmental issues can also be seen by the current discussions on the need for environmental standards similar to that of ISO 9000, a series of guidelines and standards on quality introduced by the International Standardization Organization.
The ISO 9000 covers a product's quality without concern for the impact of its production, leaving room for talk of introducing an ISO 18000, which will address the issue of resource management.
On the ecolabeling of tropical forest products, Emil said currently the Forestry Stewardship Council has embraced three general principles: sustainable forestry management, social benefits for indigenous people, and decreasing the impact on water, soil and biodiversity.
But the criteria to measure the adherence to the principles has not yet been formulated, which is where a working group led by Emil comes into play.
He said his group is now gathering suggestions from all parties on what the criteria should be.
Later an independent ecolabeling body will be formed -- Emil has been suggested as chair -- which will assess the quality of the environmental and ecomanagement systems of industrial and forestry companies.
He said producers are pressing for the establishment of an ecolabeling system soon because they want to make sure they have access to the European market after ecolabeling becomes a requirement there.
State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said in his opening speech that if Indonesian business keeps relying on cheap labor and resource abundance, and neglecting environmental management, consumers -- increasingly environmentally-sensitive -- will turn to other producers.
Sarwono said this year's monthly exports of non-oil goods are so far equal to or less than last year's levels. Though this could solely be the effect of the increasing numbers of competitors, in the future, consumers' preferences will become a decisive factor.
The minister says since the country's exports depend on its resources, resource management should be a high priority.
On this point he admitted that Indonesian officials still have different opinions. Some still rely on the comparative advantage of low wages, which no longer holds since countries such as China and Vietnam have lower wages.
Sarwono regretfully recalled appeals from another government agency to slacken environmental rules to boost exports. "It should be the other way around." (smb)