Vol. 490 No. 2
84 Mr. Gormley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the Irish standard on environmental and management systems, IS 310, was withdrawn in June 1997 following the recognition by the European Commission of ISO 14001; and whether the new standard is actually less effective in terms of environmental sustainability. [9951/98]
ISO 14001 is a world-wide standard for environmental management systems, which has been adopted by the European Committee for Standardisation, CEN, as a European standard also. I understand that when CEN adopts a European standard, the rules of CEN require all CEN member countries to adopt the European standard without change and to withdraw any conflicting standards. As a consequence of our membership of CEN, Ireland was required to withdraw IS 310.
Both ISO 14001 and IS 310 use the same approach and have a strong improvement imperative built in. There is a system review involved in each, whereby the policy and environmental protection measures of the company applying the standard are evaluated and tightened up as necessary in line with the objectives of the system. ISO is a globally recognised standard and has special status in the context of World Trade Organisation agreements.
Environmental management systems have been developed as a tool to assist industry in managing its environmental affairs in a more assured, orderly, open and efficient manner. Certification to these systems is voluntary and is a demonstration of a company's commitment to integrate environmental considerations into all aspects of the management of its operations.
