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Eco-labelling and Environmental Governance:

The concept of ‘environmental consumption’ helps in developing an interest in eco-labels. This is a shift away from traditional command and control measures imposed by governments towards market governance which is a self-regulatory new environmental policy instrument, eco-labelling . Taken into consideration of this eco-labels potentiality to attain sustainability, various eco-labelling schemes have been introduced since early 90’s .

Eco-labelling, a tool towards sustainable development:

Since United Nations ‘Earth Summit’ Conference in 1992, an international consensus has been generated to integrate environmental issues into manufacturing procedures and also in consumption patterns to achieve sustainable development. Therefore, it can be assumed that eco-labels can play a vital role here as these labels are directly linked between products and consumers. This voluntary approach is so far aimed to encourage large industries to minimise their environmental impact by using the market forces to influence the informed consumers. That is why; industries are showing interest to get this certification as part of their industrial and commercial strategies. In comparison to developing world, consumers of the developed world are more concern about the quality, safety and environmental sustainability of foods that boosts up the demand for ‘green’ foods. Now, this concern has moved towards the environmental effects of agriculture and globalisation of food production leading to ‘alternative’ and ‘sustainable food production’. Thus, globally a third food regime is becoming more apparent which allows a rise of ‘Alternative Food Networks’ which gives a new dimension to consumers demand and corporate competition. Australian Consumer Association (CHOICE) confronted their concern about the consumers growing interest from green consumption to food production, like, use of pesticides, organic production, and genetic modification etc.

Eco-labelling, a new form of market governance:

In terms of ecological labelling, both certification and private standardization run parallel. Eco-labelling standardization is a new form of regulation of the market economy which is voluntary in nature but impose upon large companies using market forces in order to harmonise production of goods and services with environment. Lately, it turns into a new form of non-state authority in both national and international levels. Thus, it has been analysed through the prism of law and of political economy. Cited in Lavallee & Plouffe, 2004, “Jean-Christophe Graz has e this analysis as, ‘far from creating an opposition between the law and public regulation and private standardization...sets out to explore how international standardization represents a new model of ‘entrepreneurial democracy’, whose fault lines run through the opposition between the state and the market while providing several levels of a hybrid form of authority at the world level”. This new idea of ‘entrepreneurial democracy’ based on the success of the ISO 14000 standards on the management of environmental quality and the ISO 9000 standards on quality production control. Once an industry decides to get this certification, it has to provide evidences of documented proof of compliance required. In terms of ISO 14042 standard, all applicants are obligatorily respect environmental legislation with related legislation. And breaching of any laws will result taken away of its license.