Unlocking Trade Opportunities.

• Author: Grabish, Beatrice
• Position: Review

Envirofriendly Products Boost Developing Countries' Exports

What do buttons on American khakis have in common with refrigerators from Swaziland? Or with Costa Rican coffee beans? Or Indian dyes? Though seemingly random, these products share one key element: "green" labels.

At one time, the gap between environmental and economic priorities seemed unbridgeable. The 1992 Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, offered a grim prognosis: "The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries."

The only way to curb pollution is to change the habits of the polluters, namely the "North". Industrialized countries of the northern hemisphere comprise only 20 per cent of the world's population, but account for 50-90 per cent of consumption and pollution.

To this end, the International Institute for Environment and Development, in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, designed ten pilot programmes to test the marketability of environmentally sound products. Made in poor countries, products ranging from nuts to coffee to refrigerators were exported to rich countries.

One lesson learned was that independent certification matters. Companies that can guarantee the ecological soundness of their products have a better chance of achieving a strong customer base. Century Textiles and Industries Limited - the largest mill in India - successfully phased out carcinogenic dyes from its doth production process by its own initiative. When Germany, the main importer of the mill's cloth, tightened its environmental regulations, Century Textiles responded quickly and dropped the deadly dyes. The mill procured independent certification of its process, which resulted in a 10 per cent rise in sales and the opening of new markets.

Likewise, Fridge Master, Ltd., a Swaziland-based refrigerator company, eliminated ozone-depleting chemicals from its manufacturing process. According to the Montreal Protocol, all countries - industrialized and developing - are required to phase out dangerous chemicals, but developing countries were given more time to implement the necessary changes. The company created a cleaner cooling system well ahead of schedule and, as a result, has reaped the benefits of its initiative. Its sales to South Africa have increased threefold, and the...