Voluntary sustainability standards and international trade
International trade is recognized as a driver of inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction that contributes to the promotion of sustainable development under both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. However, training policymakers to map interlinkages between trade policy and sustainable development remains a challenge, along with ensuring that trade policy outcomes positively influence sustainable development. In this regard, implementing voluntary sustainability standards related to products and production processes can help ensure that products and production processes comply with a set of social, economic and/or environmental requirements in order to make global production more sustainable. Such standards may help generate higher productivity levels due to improved agricultural practices, training, input use and technology transfer at the level of producers, thereby allowing for higher trade volumes. However, the reliance of such standards on audits to ensure compliance has become a challenge during the pandemic. In addition, even before the pandemic, voluntary sustainability standards might have impeded trade, particularly in low-income countries. Certification, compliance and monitoring costs make it difficult for some producers, particularly smallholders, to obtain certification, and might drive them out of export markets. Such costs are proportionally higher in countries with weak institutions and/or a fragile regulatory environment. This course will address the following:
- Best practices in implementing voluntary sustainability standards to pursue sustainable trade, particularly in post-pandemic recovery
- Opportunities and challenges in using voluntary sustainability standards to make trade more sustainable and inclusive for developing countries
- Capacity to strategize the building blocks of sustainable global value chains
