Doing business in Estonia: Sustainability
09 April 2012by Ina Dimireva -- last modified 09 April 2012
The bases for activity in the field of sustainable development of Estonia are established by the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia and the Sustainable Development Act.
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Legal requirements
Constitution of the Republic of Estonia
Corporate social responsibility
Responsible business means the integration of the economic, environmental and social dimension in the management and activity of a company, taking into account the different stakeholders and creating added value for all the involved parties. Further information on the corporate social responsibility can be obtained from the Responsible Business Forum webpage.
Standards
Information on different ISO standards and certification can be found on the following webpages:
Estonian Centre for Standardisation
The law requires businesses to comply with minimum social and environmental rules.
Administrative procedures
Certification of standards
For certification a company must implement an efficiently functioning quality, environmental or other management system, which complies with the requirements of the standard. The basis for preparing a certification offer is the information provided by the company, prepared on the corresponding offer application. Accredited certification consists of two stages: primary certification and thereafter audits to preserve the validity of the certificate. In both stages the risk-based certification method is used.
Programmes
Estonia has adopted the document Sustainable Estonia 21, which is the basis for the state's sustainable development strategy. This strategy merges the requirements of global competition with the principles of sustainable development, while retaining traditional Estonian values. The general aim of sustainable development in Estonia in the long term is to create a stable knowledge-based society.
The following long-term development goals are specified in the document:
- the viability of the Estonian cultural space;
- the enhancement of people's well-being;
- ecological balance;
- a socially cohesive society.
Doing business in Estonia: Environmental rules
Doing business in Estonia: Staff welfare
Source: Your Europe