ANSI and Leonardo

The American National Standards Institute Inc. is getting a bit of attention from the Pundit over its standard setting activities for sustainable agriculture. Here is a link to the group's IRS 990 form, and it shows a non profit group with about a $17 million budget in 2005 ($22 million now) and some $7.8 million in assets in 2005. Here is the letter that dozens of farm groups, notably Farm Bureau, wrote to ANSI relating to concerns about draft sustainability standards. Here are their concerns, from the Jan. 31 letter. Here, from the letter published by the Pundit:

We are writing in follow-up to our conversation on January 17th with Anne Caldas of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to express our concern about the process used to establish the proposed American National Standards Institute Draft Standard for Sustainable Agriculture for Trial Use. We understand the Leonardo Academy’s desire to generate and harmonize sustainability standards. It is unfortunate, however, that this standard with its important implications for American agriculture was processed in this manner. We are concerned that the ANSI process has not been followed and that this may have already led to irremediable defects in terms of ANSI’s ability to receive approval.
Stakeholder concerns and the controversial nature of the standard make procedural issues of utmost importance.
* It equates organic practices with best agricultural practices, a conclusion that would be soundly rejected by many in the scientific community and an issue that will provoke intense debate between the organic and conventional agricultural communities.
* It rejects the use of biotechnology, perpetuating scientifically unsound and overly precautionary approaches that have been rejected by ma y governments, including our own, and which have provoked significant trade concerns.

TK: There are more objections to the process of setting sustainability standards, which is being spearheaded by the Lenoardo Academy with assistance from SCS. The 990 form for the Leonardo Academy show a Madison, Wi.-based (liberal bastion) non profit with a budget of $421,000 and assets of just $119,000 in 2006.

Here is what Leonardo's Web site says about current standard setting work:

Leonardo Academy is a member of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), an organization that coordinates the development and use of voluntary consensus standards in the United States, and is an ANSI Accredited standards developer. Leonardo Academy is currently developing an ANSI standard for emission reductions and offsets and is working with Scientific Certification Systems on a Sustainable Agriculture Practice Standard.

TK: Farm groups are wise to go to the power-wielding ANSI with their concerns, though I question how much traction and buy-in this sustainability standard would have, even with the blessing of ANSI. I don't think the vast majority of consumers are connecting to this issue - not just yet, anyway.