International Convention on Sustainable Trade and Standards (ICSTS),
Andaz Delhi- New Delhi on 17-18 September 2018.
ICSTS was convened by Quality Council of India (QCI) jointly with the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS). India PSS Platform is the Secretariat of ICSTS, which was first-of-its-kind Convention in the world dedicated solely to the practical questions of leveraging trade, standards, and global value chains as engines of sustainable development. As a joint effort, also featured the international launch of the UNFSS 3rd Flagship Report “Voluntary Sustainability Standards, Trade and Sustainable Development” at this Convention.
The Convention has committed participation from the Steering Committee members of the UNFSS, which include the UNCTAD, ITC, UNIDO, FAO, and UNE. Participation of high-level governmental and Intergovernmental participation from SAARC, ASEAN, AU, OECD, EU, WTO, members of state governments in India, stakeholders from international and national businesses, policy-making, research institutions and think-tanks, standards organizations & alliances, national standards bodies, major industry associations from around the world, producers and MSMEs who form different parts of value chains, smallholders, civil society and major group stakeholders was also due at the Convention.
NCCF and its team participated in the Convention. Further Ms. Deepali Rautela, Assistant Director, NCCF participated in the session “Strengthening multi-stakeholder sectoral initiatives and responsible sourcing decisions in forestry value chains” as a panelist representing NCCF.
It was a multi stakeholder panel consisting of representation from government/ public sector, standards organization, industry, and international non-governmental institutions engaged in a discussion on how multi-stakeholder frameworks can be strengthened to respond to challenges and lead to responsible sourcing decisions in the forestry sector.Moderated by Dr. Manish Pande, Joint Director, QCI, the panelist consisted of Rajesh Rawat, Joint Director, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts, Deepali Routela, Assistant Director , Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests, Manmohan YADAV, Professor, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Snigdha PRAMANIK, Deputy Manager – Sustainability, IKEA Services India and . Lekshmi NAIR, Head of Economics and Statistics, International Rubber Study Group.
