Correction to Fern publication on voluntary schemes recognised by EU RED

Fern’s recent report (25 September) on voluntary schemes recognised by EU RED includes several incorrect references to ISEAL and ISEAL's membership programme. These are listed below along with corrections.

Incorrect statement: “Membership of the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labeling (ISEAL) Alliance, or compliance with its Code of Conduct, is cited by some of the Voluntary Schemes as being a sign of good quality (‘reliable’) auditing.”

Correction: ISEAL’s Community Members are sustainability standards and similar systems that collaborate to scale and demonstrate positive impact. ISEAL Code Compliant members go further, committing to adhere to the ISEAL Code, a globally recognised framework that defines practices for effective and credible sustainability systems.

The ISEAL Code focuses on the core components of a sustainability system: standard-setting; assurance; monitoring, evaluation and learning; and claims.

ISEAL’s Community Code of Conduct has no relation to auditing. Member commitment to the Community Code of Conduct underpins ISEAL’s ability to offer an effective space for peer collaboration and exchange, supporting our goal to strengthen sustainability systems.

Incorrect statement: “In reality, ISEAL is merely an industry association for sustainability standards.”

Correction: ISEAL is a membership organisation which supports and challenges its members to improve their systems. We are a neutral definer of credible practices for sustainability systems, so maintaining our position and reputation as a neutral expert is critical to us.

Incorrect statement: “Prominent members of the ISEAL Alliance, have been demonstrably non-compliant with multiple elements of ISEAL’s Codes of Conduct for years if not decades, apparently with impunity. There is in fact no system within ISEAL to record non-conformities by its members against the various Codes of Conduct. There are no publicly documented instances of ISEAL Alliance members being suspended or expelled."

Correction: ISEAL Code Compliant members are obliged to participate in evaluations against the ISEAL Codes on a frequent basis. These are conducted by experienced and competent evaluators independent of ISEAL and its members.

Evaluations are conducted according to ISEAL’s publicly available Independent Evaluation Procedure, which outlines ISEAL’s expectations of its Code Compliant members. It specifies their obligations when non-compliances are identified: to develop and implement a plan to correct this within a given timeframe.

Members’ independent evaluations are published on the ISEAL website.

Where ISEAL Code Compliant members fail to meet their obligations, the procedure also outlines the process for suspension and potential withdrawal of ISEAL Code Compliant status.