How are Small & Medium sized Enterprises (SME's) and Developing countries affected by the ISO 14000 standards?

ISO member bodies in many developing countries recognized early on the potential significance of the ISO 14000 series, and have been active participants in the standards development process. This participation, combined with TC 207's efforts to meet the similar concerns of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), has had important effects on the overall shape and focus of the core EMS standards in the ISO 14000 series.

By encouraging participation in TC 207 and its subcommittees by representatives of these groups, and through consultation with other experts, TC 207 has considered the particular requirements of these groups and incorporated them into the core EMS documents. However, to be truly responsive to the needs of SMEs and developing countries, TC 207 will continue to listen, and to encourage participation by those who may not have the resources to otherwise have their voices heard. This is particularly important in the current implementation phase of the ISO 14000 EMS and environmental auditing standards.

TC 207 has encouraged developing country participation; but lacking its own financial resources, it has had to rely on the assistance of several countries that, beyond recognizing the importance of broad participation of developing countries in the TC, have donated funds to support this participation. These donations have been coordinated by ISO/DEVCO (Policy Development Committee).

DEVCO is also working to facilitate implementation of the standards in developing countries. It recognizes that countries need to have a standardization infrastructure in place, and clear, accurate information should be available for potential users. DEVCO has worked with TC 207 to develop a manual on environmental management, and has initiated a seminar program to build the capacity of developing countries to use and support the standards.

Meanwhile, TC 207's SC 1 has undertaken an initiative to help the TC to better meet the needs of SMEs worldwide, as they implement and use the ISO 14001 and ISO 14004 standards. SC 1 has assigned a project team to gather information on the needs of SMEs in this area.

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