Read more: Praise for ISEAL's Codes of Good Practice
"Look for independence, regular efficacy assessments and direct audits, 3rd party verification, periodic updating of criteria, broad stakeholder involvement in governance and standard setting, organizational and process transparency, public reporting and the like. Alignment with the ISEAL Alliance Code of Good Practice is a good indicator here."
GreenBiz.com: 10 Tips for Savvy Shopping in the Certification Marketplace
"Our definition of a credible certification scheme? It has to be ISEAL-compliant."
Martina Fleckenstein, WWF, March 2010
"My advice to any consumer wanting to know that the eco label they are choosing is credible is to check if the organisation in question is a member of something called the ISEAL Alliance. This Alliance is, if you like, the trade body that represents the world's most credible independent global standard setters. That is probably why it still only has 10 full members. But all those members meet rigorous standards that guarantee about as much credibility as you could ever have."
Brendan May, Planet 2050, November 2009
“Working with the ISEAL Alliance has improved the quality of our work. It has enhanced mutual learning and cooperation with other ISEAL members, and more significantly still leverages our potential to substantially scale-up, as a movement, our impacts on companies, developing countries and consumers.”
Alice Tepper Marlin, Social Accountability International
“ISEAL has an incredibly important role in transferring knowledge between organisations”
Jane Valentino, Green-e Climate, Center for Resource Solutions
“ISEAL is playing a leadership role in developing awareness on the need for and the many and little understood challenges of scaling up the voluntary standards movement.”
Andreas Kratz, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International
“In order for certification and standards to have a lasting impact, a strong network anchored at ISEAL is essential”
Kai N. Lee, Packard Foundation
"An independent evaluation of ISEAL conducted in 2008 concluded that the organisation is making a significant contribution to the way that environmental and social standards are designed and developed. Its greatest impact has come from developing a ‘Code of Good Practice on Standard Setting’ that is becoming a global benchmark for good practice. ISEAL is also working on accessibility issues and impact measurement as a means of increasing support for standards that promote sustainable production practices. In addition, ISEAL monitors policy developments and shares information between its members. Members cite such opportunities for shared learning as one of the main benefits of being a part of ISEAL."
Final report of the Hivos/Oxfam Novib Biodiversity Fund, 2010
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity includes ISEAL in its decision IX/26 "Promoting Business Engagement" (May 2008):
In collaboration with relevant organizations, such as the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling (ISEAL) Alliance, compile information on the use and impact of international voluntary certification schemes towards the implementation of the objectives of the Convention and develop knowledge sharing and technical assistance tools to encourage the wider uptake of best practice.
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) recommends in its Review of sustainable commodities (2006):
There are a huge number of voluntary initiatives, which can cause confusion and reduce effectiveness. The UK Government could usefully examine the benefits of requiring voluntary initiatives to comply with internationally recognised principles for standards development as outlined under the TBT Agreement Code of Good Practice, ISEAL Code of Good Practice and/or ISO norms.
The European Commission’s definition of Fair Trade (2009):
Fair Trade standards are the result of consultation of stakeholders and experts and are set in accordance with the requirements of the International Social and Environment Accreditations and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL).
The European Commission's Communication on Agricultural Product Quality (2009):
The issue of consumer confusion arising from different schemes with similar objectives is being taken up by initiatives such as the ISEAL Code of Good Practice.