Criteria Development & Revisions

Criteria Development and Revision Process

The process is based on the GSTC Standard Setting Manual v3.0 , where the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems is used as a reference, and the key aspects are as follows:

• External experts’ engagement in the new Criteria development and the Revision of the Criteria
• Multiple rounds of Public Consultation to get various stakeholders’ engagement in the process
• Reaching out to disadvantaged groups* to get their input.

* Disadvantaged group: Those who experience discrimination or barriers to equal opportunity. In the GSTC Criteria Development process, the Disadvantaged group is defined as those who are under-engaged and under-represented groups due to barriers such as linguistic, geographic, technical, and other difficulties/barriers in participating in the development of a set of GSTC Criteria and/or in applying the Criteria in their activities. (page 30 Glossary – GSTC Standard Setting Manual v3.0)

To provide feedback on current Criteria, please see the Feedback page.

Impact of Revisions on GSTC-Recognized Standards and Certification Bodies

Per the terms of the Recognition, as stated in the Manuals for Recognitions the marks, following the revision of GSTC Criteria, holders of GSTC-Recognized Standards have two years from the dates of release of the revisions to make any necessary revisions to their standards in order to remain compliant with the GSTC mark. Questions may be addressed to recognition@gstc.org