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Ecolabels: Sustainability and sovereignty
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Illustration of groceries shopping. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he 2006 movie Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio, based on a true story, showed how the diamond trade in Africa led to smuggling, war and child abuse. The story inspired a trading system called the Kimberley Process (KP) that is committed to eliminating conflicts in the diamond trade in the global supply chain.
The KP system actually follows the ecolabel certification process. The ecolabel campaign was developed at the Earth Summit in Brazil in June 1992 and emphasizes sustainable production and consumption. Endorsements by NGOs following the summit strengthened its position.
This scheme has evolved as a market mechanism with premium price incentives for producers. The growing awareness of sustainability led to the increased use of ecolabels, leading the scheme to become a lucrative business.
The cost of certification applied to the applicant company is usually quite high. Eventually, trade sustainability became a more prominent issue than farmers and fisherfolks’ welfare in developing countries.
