Many of the advances in sustainability over the last few decades stem from the establishment of certification and labelling systems. Organic, fair trade and other sustainability labels assure consumers of sustainable practices in the production of nationally and internationally traded food products. Examples of certification labels include Fairtrade/ Max Havelaar, EKO, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ certified, Cert ID Proterra and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.

While some companies make use of certification labels, others have begun to establish their own corporate responsibility programmes in order to enhance the sustainability of their products and practices. Some examples of said programmes include Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. programme that certifies its coffee suppliers based on social and environmental standards, Cadbury Schweppes’ Human Rights and Ethical Trading policy, Innocent Drinks’ minimum standards, Tesco’s Nature’s Choice and Nespresso’s AAA Sustainable Quality programme.

In the last decade, private sector bodies and multi-stakeholder initiatives have started developing voluntary sustainability standards for specific product groups, ethical trade and good agricultural practices. Some of the current examples include: round tables for soy, cocoa, fish, sugar cane and palm oil. Other initiatives in this group are the SAI Platform, GlobalGAP, BSCI, the Ethical Tea Initiative and the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C). Although multi-stakeholder initiatives can be considered an important step in the right direction, their scope is sometimes limited and the actual impact on increased sustainability cannot always be guaranteed.

There has also been development regarding initiatives that focus on specific issues relating to sustainability and ethical trade. For example, the SA 8000 standard specifically deals with labour issues; ISO 14001 covers environmental management exclusively, OHSAS 18001 covers health and safety in workplaces and PACI focuses exclusively on corruption.