The International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, has released “Standards Map “, an online database of voluntary standards.

Standards map now tracks 30 standards or codes of conduct and is accessible for a US$900 annual fee for developed country users. Developing country users can access the site for free until the end of this year. The site goes into depth on each standard and is accompanied by a resources section including relevant academic articles relating to those standards and issues being covered.

“ITC is planning to continue to add standards and also translate the site into French and Spanish by June 2011. Standards Map is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

In line with ITC’s mission, they target developing country users in particular and ITC has created a capacity building programme to run in tandem with the online platform. We look forward to working with the ITC and others in this field as we work to collaboratively grow green purchasing around the world.