Ministry to Establish Certification for Small Business Environmental Management Systems

Japan's Ministry of the Environment (MOE) will establish an environmental management system (EMS) certification regime similar to ISO 14001 that will be relatively easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt. The system will be implemented in FY 2004 and aims to promote the introduction of environmental management systems.

In 1996, the Ministry established and has been promoting the Eco Action 21 (EA21) program designed to provide SMEs with a simple method to make voluntary efforts for environmental protection. However, with the increasing number of companies certified under ISO 14001, many of the SMEs that have been participating in the EA21 program see the need for a certification system tailored to their circumstances.

In the new system, those who qualify for a newly created position - provisionally called Eco Action 21¡ÊEA21¡ËExaminer - will examine companies' conformity to the EMS and environmental reporting guidelines. The EA21 secretariat will award certification to enterprises that conform with EA21 standards.

The Ministry is planning to launch a pilot project from FY 2003 to implement a third-party test of the effectiveness of the assessment and certification system.



Posted: 2003/07/05 09:21:14 AM
Japanese version