1.11. P ERFORM ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS IN THE WORLD AND IN V IETNAM
1.11.1. Current Status of Environmental Auditing Worldwide
Globally, environmental auditing is regarded as an optimal tool and widely applied in many countries to inspect and evaluate the implementation of regulations regarding environmental management, including each country's own legal provisions or international standards such as ISO 14001. In the United States, since 1970, as part of the national action program for environmental protection, the U.S. government has affirmed environmental auditing as an effective tool to support the management and utilization of natural resources.
Specifically, following the successful application of environmental auditing and achieving remarkable results in the chemical industry in the U.S., the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency officially recognized environmental auditing as a state environmental management tool, and required three state-owned industrial conglomerates, namely Oil & Gas, Tin, and Aluminum, to undergo it.
In the UK, the British Industry Association has widely promoted and applied environmental auditing within its member units, helping businesses save thousands of pounds per year through production cost savings and environmental cost reductions. Meanwhile, the Downstream Environmental Standards Improvement and Resource Efficiency (DESIRE) audit program implemented by the Indian Productivity Commission in 1993 has become a prominent program contributing to environmental pollution reduction in this country.
In Asia, Indonesia has utilized environmental auditing tools to verify the accuracy of waste measurement data from enterprises. These measurement data are then widely disclosed to the business community for ranking, thereby promoting environmental protection activities in the private sector.
In the early years, environmental auditing began at production facilities mainly on a voluntary basis. However, it quickly gained recognition from managers and experts for its value, leading to the establishment of formal auditing processes in various fields, including many agricultural production sectors. Other countries such as Australia, the UK, European Union member states, New Zealand, and Canada are at the forefront of this field. The reality shows that the application of environmental auditing can take various forms: voluntary and mandatory;
internal or independent auditing. The content, standards of auditing, especially voluntary or internal auditing, can be flexibly developed depending on the diverse purposes and needs of businesses, production facilities, and business organizations. Most auditing programs can be identified based on legal regulations, environmental standards, or other standards such as Global GAP and ISO 14001.
Some major environmental management programs applying auditing tools include exemplary programs such as the Ontario Farm Environmental Plan (EFP) in Canada; the UK Linking Environment and Farming program (LEAF) in the UK; the National Association of Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA) program in Australia; and the Eco-Management Audit Scheme (EMAS) in Europe. The Ontario Farm Environmental Plan (EFP) is a program implemented in Ontario, Canada, since 1992 to address environmental issues on farms. Particularly, this program was initiated by farm owners themselves when they were stuck in managing environmental issues. In this program, experts and managers have worked together to develop and design an internal audit process for the environmental management system of farms. This process is based on a comprehensive farm management approach and is called the "Farm Environmental Plan." Many resources, both human and financial, have been
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mobilized by the government to implement this large-scale plan. Many farms of different production types have participated in this program, including livestock farms. The success of the program in assisting farms in addressing environmental issues has led to its expansion to many other provinces in Canada and become a national program, as well as being studied by many other countries. The process of participating in the "Farm Environmental Plan" mainly involves training workshops; reviewing farm action plans and developing next action plans; workshop exchanges, evaluation, criticism, and plan implementation. The two greatest values of EFP are the development of a voluntary program while ensuring confidentiality. This program helps producers self-assess risks in resource and farm management and implement appropriate management measures. In addition, EFP is an example of success in raising community awareness and improving environmental quality, addressing past consequences. However, one of the important factors determining the success of this program is the three key interventions of the government: strict environmental regulations, technical support, and financial support. In addition, its criteria are closely aligned with the standards in the ISO 14000 series.
Therefore, once EFP is completed, farms can easily obtain ISO 14000 certification, which is also an important incentive for farm owners to actively participate in this program. Currently, EFP has been applied in most parts of Canada and is considered one of the meaningful directions helping Canadian agriculture to approach sustainable development goals.
Another program that uses environmental auditing as its main tool in achieving its goals is the NASAA standard development program in Australia. The main goal when NASAA was established in 1986 was to build and develop a standard system for managing the quality of nutrient-rich organic agricultural products in line with environmental protection. Along with establishing this criteria set, environmental auditing has been applied by NASAA as a tool to ensure quality and serve as a basis for certifying NASAA standards for participants. Not only are environmental auditing programs built on local or national management
standards, but the world also witnesses the success of or globally. EMAS (The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) and ISO 14001 are typical programs for this trend. EMAS is an eco-management and auditing program widely applied in the European Union and some other countries in various sectors such as agriculture, industry, and services. EMAS is implemented through various stages aimed at improving environmental management. EMAS is built on the European Union's environmental protection policies while ensuring market benefits for businesses. Obtaining EMAS certification through environmental auditing activities not only has environmental significance but also becomes a significant competitive advantage in the European market for products aiming to penetrate the EU market. Also aiming to improve environmental management systems for organizations, ISO 14001 is an international standard for environmental management systems in many fields, attracting the interest of businesses, and individuals worldwide. This is an international standard aimed at building an internationally standardized environmental management system.
Environmental auditing tools are applied to review and evaluate compliance with this standard. Along with EMAS, ISO 14001 is the two most widely applied and recognized systems globally environmental auditing programs based on standards established for economic regions.