International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has renewed its commitment to incorporate the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals into its standards programme and giving a voice to vulnerable stakeholders most affected by climate change in its standards and policy work.
ISO officials attending the four-day 44th plenary on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO) hosted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in New Delhi stated that the plenary has successfully achieved its objectives of empowering consumers for a sustainable future, through in-depth discussions and exchange of national and international experiences of the challenges that consumers face in making sustainable choices and promoting the development of the circular economy.
During her keynote address, Nidhi Khare, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution mentioned, “We have made significant improvement in consumer protection during the recent years. Also, robust consumer grievance redressal systems have been developed to help fast-tracking resolution of such matters.”
While stressing the need to keep sustainability as a core consideration in standardisation, she said, “Manufacturers should ensure that products are designed for sustainability parameters, they can also be partners in the process of reducing e-waste.”
Highlighting the activities and initiatives of BIS, Mamta Upadhyay Lal, Additional Director General, BIS said, “BIS has taken up a wide range of initiatives, such as Manak Manthan, Quality Connect etc. which are aimed at enhancing consumer engagement in standardisation.”
COPOLCO chairperson Sadie Dainton expressed her appreciation for all ISO member countries for their ongoing engagement and commitment to raising consumer stakeholders’ awareness of the value of standards for consumer protection and for engaging and involving consumers to develop credible and robust standards which address real problems faced by real people, by setting out good practice for organizations to minimize the risk of harm to consumers.
ISO boasts 168 countries as members and holds a range of sensitive meetings of stakeholder groups, committees and communities with an objective to strengthen the process of standardization and enhance consumer participation across the globe.
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Updated: 28 May 2023, 06:48 PM IST
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