Local businesses urged to brace for ISO-14000
Local businesses urged to brace for ISO-14000
SURABAYA, East Java (JP): Former state minister of environment
and population, Emil Salim, reminded producers of leading export
commodities to prepare for the implementation of the ISO-14000
environment standard series.
Speaking at a seminar on Environmental Management and Audit
Systems held here yesterday by University 45, Emil said the
businesses which must be particularly cautious of the ISO-14000
standards -- to be introduced next April -- are producers of
textiles, garments, wood and wood products, pulp, paper and
leather shoes.
"Other commodities which may be effected by the
standardization system are food and agricultural products," he
said.
Revenues from the five major export commodities in 1993
reached US$13.9 billion, or more than half of the country's total
non-oil and gas exports.
Emil said that some 25 percent of the products went to Europe
and the United States, which have the strictest eco-labeling
regulations.
He explained that European and other developed countries
presently apply differing eco-labeling rules. In fact, he said, a
single country may have two regulations: one stipulated by the
government and another by the private sector.
The Blue Angel label in Germany, for example, is applied by
the government, but Germany's private sector has different
standards for assessing textile and plywood imports, he said.
"This gives the impression that environment issues are used as
a new means of protection in international trade," Emil pointed
out. "But the ISO-14000 standards will help reduce the variation
of environmental assessment systems."
The ISO-14000 oversees environmentally-related aspects of
industry, such as environment management systems and auditions,
environmental performance, evaluation, environmental labeling and
life cycle assessments.
The ISO-14000 was developed in 1993 by the Geneva-based
International Organization for Standardization.
Emil pointed out that members of the World Trade Organization
have agreed that products which are cheaper, because they do not
implement ISO-14000 standards, will be rejected from
international trade.
This restriction, he said, will be effective starting in the
year 2000.
In Indonesia, eco-labeling certification is overseen by the
Indonesian Eco-labeling Agency, which is headed by Emil.
Emil said the ISO-14000 standard should be implemented
together with the popular ISO-9000, a total quality management
standard and a benchmark of excellence.
The ISO-9000, he said, is needed to achieve a degree of
quality assurance while the ISO-14000 is related to the
environmental effects of a company's activities.
"If our products are going to survive and win in the upcoming
free market, we have no choice but to adjust ourselves and abide
by the rulings," Emil said.
He also urged consumers to be more critical of products which
are environmentally harmful. (pwn/15)