Transnational Regulation, Voluntary Standards and Trade

Programme Description

This Executive Training Seminar provided a comprehensive and practical discussion of how business actors and civil society attempt to attenuate negative spillovers, address emerging problems of common interest and better achieve regulatory objectives in today’s globalised economy

The seminar focused on questions such as: Who (should) participate in these processes and why? What are their distributional consequences? Are Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) effective in achieving their objectives? How do private standards interact with the multilateral trade regime and domestic governance? How can we address the increasing fragmentation of the emerging global governance architecture in this arena?

In exploring these subjects and considering the associated policy challenges, the training employed a combination of lectures, case studies, interactive seminars and simulations.

In addition to the scientific coordinators, participants had the opportunity to interact with practitioners from relevant international organizations who work on VSS and related projects in developing countries.