18 June 2020

We are writing... to add our perspectives to those who have raised questions and concerns with respect to proposals made by AFNOR, the French national organisation for standardisation, relating to ISO 26000. We are concerned that revisions to ISO 26000, as well as the establishment of a technical committee, will distract from important legislative processes and urge ISO not to proceed in this way. The standards developed by bodies such as the United Nations, OECD, and European Union have the broad support of business, civil society, and trade unions and the introduction of further private standards risks causing confusion and undermining legal efforts...

...The general alignment of ISO 26000 with international standards, including the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, make it among the most widely referenced and used standards... in all regions...

As ISO member countries consider options in the lead up to the planned July vote on this matter, we wish to stress that any decision relating to ISO 26000 could risk undermining ongoing efforts at national, regional, and international levels to strengthen implementation of existing responsible business standards...

In particular, we wish to draw attention to growing momentum at national and regional levels concerning mandatory due diligence. This includes the recent announcement by European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders...

We are concerned that the reopening of ISO 26000 will become a major distraction from the development of international and national law in relation to environmental and human rights due diligence. We very much hope that ISO will decline this opportunity at this point of time...