And in Southeast Asia a number of suppliers to the automotive
and other industries have voluntarily adopted ISO 14001 in
order to signal to distant North American and European
markets their commitment to the environment and to
sustainability. This is in contrast to the United States where, in
the 1990s, the countrys three largest automobiles companies,
General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, formally requested their suppliers to gain ISO 14001 certi cation by 2003. Despite
customer pressure, and at the risk of losing business, by July
2003 only 24 percent of North America-based suppliers had
adopted the standard.