Creating Legitimacy in the ISO/CEN Standard for Sustainable and Traceable Cocoa: An Exploratory Case Study Integrating Normative and Empirical Legitimacy

The paper assesses the legitimacy of the ISO/CEN standard for sustainable and traceable cocoa during the standard-setting process and thereby to establish the degree of legitimacy achieved and to explore new sources of legitimacy in the development of sustainability standards for agricultural commodities. The paper examines the normative and empirical legitimacy concerns involved in the development of the ISO/CEN standard for sustainable and traceable cocoa (ISO 34101 series). The findings suggest that while the standard-setting organisation is establishing normative legitimacy, empirical legitimacy is lacking. Absence of empirical legitimacy is a serious concern for a successful and just implementation.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the normative and empirical legitimacy issues in the standard-setting process of ISO/CEN standard for sustainable and traceable cocoa, finding that the lack of empirical legitimacy could hinder successful implementation.