Establishing credibility: Practising standard-setting ideals in a Swedish seafood-labelling case
2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 8; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/15239080600772126
ISSN1523-908X
Autores Tópico(s)Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability
ResumoAbstract Market-based non-state governance arrangements, many examples of which are seen in the environmental field, require the active approval of a broad group of stakeholders. This paper makes the theoretical argument that credibility is a key issue in the establishment of such arrangements, and examines empirically the effort to develop a trustworthy eco-labelling scheme for seafood in Sweden. Many policy actors view eco-labelling as a particularly credible instrument that consumers and businesspeople can use to demonstrate environmentally friendly behaviour. But establishing credibility is complicated, especially if the issues are controversial and if there is mistrust among the groups. This paper analyses the challenges involved in practising six standard-setting ideals, the fulfilment of which is seen to establish credibility: inclusiveness, independence, auditability, scientific validity, global applicability and the balancing of feasibility versus environmental stringency. The ideals are subjects of framing, debating, power struggles and negotiation; and are dependent upon context, situational and historical factors. The assumed positive relationship between ideals and credibility is complicated because of the challenges involved in practising the ideals. This article draws upon the literature on non-state authority, governance and standardization. Keywords: Eco-labellingenvironmental governanceenvironmental managementprivate authoritystandardizationcredibilityfishing politicstrust Acknowledgement Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 'Local Institution Building for the Environment: Perspectives from East and West' Conference in Gorizia, Italy, 9–10 September 2004; at a seminar at Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research; and at the annual conference of the Swedish Sociological Association, in February 2005, in Växjö. The author is grateful for all the comments received during these events and would also like to thank Jessica Lindvert, Kristina Tamm Hallström, and two referees for providing helpful comments on the article. Notes 1. See a previous empirical report (Boström, Citation2004b) for more details about method. 2. The interviewees represented KRAV (two persons), marine research (one researcher participating in the Project Steering Group), EOs (two persons from WWF and one from SSNC—Swedish Society for Nature Conservation), fishermen (one individual fisherman who participated in the Project Steering Group and two persons from a fishermen's association), the fish industry and trade (the Chairman of Fiskbranschens Riksförbund [an association for the Swedish fish processing industry] and the Director of Svensk Fisk [a PR association for the Swedish fish industry and trade]), state agencies (three persons from the Swedish National Board of Fisheries), and one municipal official who had environmental responsibilities and served as the Chairman of the Project Steering Group. 3. Many of these documents are accessible at http://www.krav.se/vildfisk (February 2006). 4. All quotations from interviews and remissvar are the author's translations from the Swedish, except for MSC remissvar, which was written in English. 5. Power (Citation1997, Citation2000) distinguished between auditing ('control of control' or control of self-control arrangements) and inspection or direct control. Because control of licence holders in eco-labelling can include both first- and second-order control, the term 'auditability' as used here covers both. 6. These principles are formalized in the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreements. 7. WWF was a main promoter for the introduction of a labelling scheme in Sweden under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (Boström, Citation2003b). FSC was seen as a promising model for MSC (Fowler & Heap, Citation2000). 8. One of these officials also said that he has changed his attitude and now believes that current MSC is trustworthy and that it draws upon the best available principles, such as FAO's (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, and that it makes use of the best available scientific knowledge. 9. KRAV was founded in 1985 by the Swedish organic movement and was one of the pioneers of eco-labelling in Sweden. 10. However, it does announce the KRAV label in a positive way in its magazine, Sveriges Natur 2004(3), which included a special sea theme. 11. KRAV has 29 member organizations, including various interest groups of organizations representing the food industry, environmental and animal protection (e.g. SSNC), food retailers, unions and farmers' associations. 12. The principle in organic agriculture is that it cannot assume responsibility for toxic substances to which it has not contributed, and this idea was a source of great impact in the development of the standard. See Boström (Citation2004b, Citation2005) for more details about this debate. 13. Safe biological limits refer to "the level of the spawning stock below which there is an unacceptable probability that recruitment will be impaired" (Stokke & Coffey, Citation2004, p. 119). Harvesting levels that ICES considers to be precautionary are identified by assessing a limit reference point from which a buffer is added. The buffer depends upon such factors as the natural variability of the stock and the precision of the assessment. 14. SWEDAC approved the ISO-link, but not the connection to IFOAM.
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