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Since the 1990s, a range of private standards have emerged in the agriculture sector, reflecting a broader trend in which private actors are assuming a significant role in international and national regulation, a phenomenon referred to as private governance in the literature. However, the proliferation of private standards has raised concern over the democratic legitimacy of standard-setting organizations.

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the democratic legitimacy of private governance, focusing specifically on standard-setting organizations in the Swedish agriculture sector. The democratic legitimacy of Sigill Kvalitetsystem AB (SKAB) and KRAV was explored based on the criteria of participation, transparency, and accountability (Dingwerth, 2007). This study employed a qualitative approach to analyze information sourced from websites and documents released by the standard-setting organizations. Moreover, semi-structured interviews were conducted with relevant stakeholders.

The results show that the democratic legitimacy of private governance, and more specifically, private standard-setting organizations, is complex and must be understood in relation to other contextual factors. While there is a broad scope of participation among different stakeholders in the Swedish agriculture sector, there is a lack of direct participation from civil society actors. Moreover, the quality of participation may be understood in relation to the stakeholders’ interests, resources, and expertise. Another finding is that the transparency of the decision-making process of private standard-setting organizations appears to vary, which may be due to governance structure or trade-offs with other values. External accountability is ensured by accreditation and third-party certification, while internal accountability may vary depending on organizational structures.