BGR Support for Mineral Certification Seite 13

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11 2 What is Certification What is CTC What is Certification Certification stems from the desire of responsible consumers to ensure that the products they use every day and the procedures employed in their pro duction chain live up to certain standards For a growing portion of the consuming public it is important to know that a product they are using was not made in a sweatshop or by child labourers they want to make sure the product or the involved pro duction processes do not harm the environment they prefer transparently produced goods that con tribute to sustainable development in the local com munities where they were produced Moreover they demand products that do not contribute to war or conflict and associated human rights abuses Manufacturers of these products are often anxious to fill this market demand and to safeguard their reputa tion Meeting a certain standard is a way to make their product stand out from others and so gain a competitive reputational advantage in the market place Sometimes by meeting a certain standard a product commands a price premium in the market place Sometimes meeting a certain standard is the only way to ensure a continued place for a product in the marketplace At its core certification is a voluntary agreement between consumers and producers Consumers agree to limit their consumption to or especially seek out products that meet an agreed upon standard Producers pledge to manufacture or supply their product according to that same standard Both sides benefit In order to assure consumers that producers are keeping their pledge verification of standard com pliance is required To this end producers might agree to let an independent external expert an inde pendent auditor examine their operations and verify that the standard is being met Different Certification Schemes Many certification schemes with different standards exist depending on what the certification scheme stakeholders consider important For example the Forestry Stewardship Council FSC certifies that wood products are produced in accordance with certain social and environmental standards The Fair Labor Association FLA certifies that the workers manufacturing running shoes T shirts and other textiles are paid decent local wages and provided with dignified working conditions The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme KPCS certifies that rough diamonds are not conflict diamonds and that they do not profit rebel groups or help to buy arms in the country where they were mined 10 2012 BGR Hannover 2012 BGR Hannover