Better Banana Project

In the early 1990s, following campaigns to highlight the impact of the banana expansion on tropical forests, the US based NGO Rainforest Alliance set about drawing up environmental standards for banana production. A certification scheme, known originally as Eco OK, was established in 1994 and large-scale banana plantations, initially in Costa Rica, were certified. More than half of these belong to Chiquita, who have worked with the Rainforest Alliance from the early days. The initiative has since been named the Better Banana Project (BBP). 

However, it is argued that:

1. The close relationship between one big company and a certifier has reduced the stringency of the environmental standards, and therefore the credibility of the whole initiative.

2. The social standards were only added after the project began and the Better Banana Project cannot monitor them effectively because, on their own admission, it has no experience in this field.

In November 2000, Chiquita announced that the company has achieved BBP certification for 127 plantations in 5 countries of Latin America, covering over 70,000 acres and that another 307 of the independent plantations that supply Chiquita have also been certified. The company states that it has spent over US$20million meeting these standards.

Further Reading

The Report, Conclusions And Background Documents, Including Comparative Analysis Of The Main Environmental And Social Certification Programmes In The Banana Sector, Of The Ad Hoc Expert Meeting On Socially And Environmentally Responsible Banana Production And Trade Held By The FAO In Rome On 22-24 March 2000. The meeting gathered experts from various environmental and social certification programmes, small banana growers, auditors and consultants.  

Website

Rainforest Alliance - Better Banana Project 

SA8000

Social Accountability International, founded as the Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency (CEPAA) in 1997, works to address the issues raised by the diversity of codes of conduct published by individual companies, which have become problematic both for consumers who want clear information and for companies seeking to enforce these codes.

Studies by SAI's affiliate, the Council on Economic Priorities - a 30-year-old corporate social responsibility research institute - found that corporate internal codes of conduct tend to be highly inconsistent and expensive and inefficient to monitor, due to unclear definitions and a lack of trained auditors. Such codes and their monitoring systems also tend to be difficult to audit and lacked sensitivity to local laws and customs.

In response to the inconsistencies among workplace codes of conduct, CEPAA developed a standard for workplace conditions and a system for independently verifying factory compliance. The standard, Social Accountability 8000, and its verification system draw from established business strategies for ensuring quality (such as those used by the international standards organization for ISO 9000) and add several elements that international human rights experts have identified as essential to social auditing.

It remains to be seen whether difficult issues such as freedom of association can be monitored and verified to the satisfaction of workers and consumers.

Dole Food Company is represented on the board of SAI and gained its first SA8000 certification for banana operations at two packhouses owned by its Philippino subsidiary in early 2001. Dole aims to have all its banana operations certified over the next few years.

Websites

Social Accountability International 

For Debates Around SA8000 Visit The Maquila Solidarity Network Website

ISO 14000

International Organisation For Standardisation (ISO) 

ISO is the Geneva-based inter-governmental institution responsible for developing and enforcing standards which it negotiates with governments and industry. In the late 1990s, ISO published a series of environmental management standards - ISO 14000. As yet (June 2001), there has been no attempt to incorporate labour or other social standards, which are seen as the business of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Dole, for example, has achieved ISO 14001 certification in Costa Rica. However, ISO 14001 only certifies a management process (i.e. the fact that a plantation is trying to reach some objectives). It says nothing about the objectives themselves, or the environmental impact of company operations, let alone whether they have been fulfilled or not.

Further Reading

Are ISO Standards A Suitable Instrument For Supporting A Sustainable Banana Economy? By Monika Egger 1998

Website

International Organisation For Standardisation - ISO14000

Further Information On Enrivonmental And Social Certification

SASA - Social Accountability In Sustainable Agriculture Is A Collaborative Project Of Four Social And Environmental Verification Systems In Sustainable Agriculture.