BUSINESS ARTICLE

Business Article

Business Article

Begley, Ronald. 1996. “ISO 14000: A step toward industry self-regulation.” Environmental Science and Technology, Vol.30, No.7, pp. 298A-302A.

ISO 14000 will help companies scrutinize their environmental performance and operations. It requires that a company develop an environmental policy, set objectives in order to meet the policy, monitor progress towards objectives, mitigate environmental problems and continually revise the environmental management system (EMS) in order to ensure continual improvement of environmental performance. Regardless, some regulators are skeptical of allowing ISO 14000 certification to be seen as reason to reduce regulation of certified companies.

After discussing the origins of EMSs, the potential benefits of having an internal EMS, the benefits of ISO 14000 certification, the response of American and European companies to ISO 14000 and the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), and components of ISO 14000, Begley analyzes the potential for ISO 14000 to effect a decrease in environmental regulation in the United States (U.S.). Begley believes that a reduction in regulatory demands is the most appealing aspect of ISO 14000 certification for many U.S. companies.

Benchmark Environmental Consulting. 1995. ISO 14000: An Uncommon Perspective, Five Public Policy Questions for Proponents of the ISO 14000 Series. Prepared for the European Environmental Bureau, November 1995.

An Uncommon Perspective was written by Benchmark Environmental Consultants, a federation of European environmental non-government organizations. The report centers around the argument that ISO 14000 will not help organizations initiate environmental improvement or performance since it is not a performance standard but a conformance standard: ISO 14001 only measures a company's conformance with its own prescribed environmental policy.

Before answering five public policy questions, the report outlines the history of the International Organization for Standardization, the ISO 14000 series, the relevance of the new international trade rules and the World Trade Organization to the standard and the context of ...