EU Commission seeks to review use of Green Claims

On 11 January, the European Commission launched a consultation in the context of the revision of the Sustainable Production and Consumption Action Plan. Among its proposals, the Commission envisages potential regulation or stepped-up regulation in the field of green claims in advertising and marketing.??The aim of the initiative is to put forward proposals on sustainable consumption and production in order to improve the environmental performance of products and increase the demand for more sustainable goods and production technologies.?? The consultation seeks stakeholders' view on possible actions regarding, among others, the use of Green Claims through a number of questions (section three of the questionnaire).?? In a background document accompanying the consultation, the EU Commission makes the following proposals:

• The use of “green”, “eco” and “natural” could be limited to certain products that meet specific requirements in terms of its Environmental Footprint of Products (EFP).
• Third-party verification could be made mandatory for use of expressions like “green”, “eco” and “natural”.
• EU-harmonised code of conduct on the use of environmental claims in advertising could be set up.

Next steps: The consultation will run until 3 April 2012. A Communication is expected by the end of 2012, which will outline the next policy steps for the SCP Action Plan. Regarding green claims, the Commission is considering two options: revising the 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive to strengthen its provisions in this area; or a softer approach, involving collaboration with advertising authorities/self-regulatory organisations. WFA has already made a submission to the EU in the context of a recent consultation on the review of the UCP Directive. WFA aims to develop and promote national good practice and wishes to avoid an overly rigid EU regulatory framework. WFA’s objective will be to ensure that any new EU initiative in this field reflects the needs and furthers the aims of effective advertising self-regulation.

 

ANFO er medlem av WFA - World Federation of Advertisers.