Product labelling: Green claims

Defra produces advice for business about using green claims, to help businesses to present the environmental credentials of their products accurately and appropriately, especially in advertising.

For example, the widely used phrase "environmentally friendly" is not a recognised term, and does not necessarily mean anything. Defra encourages businesses to make green claims in line with the detailed guidance it has produced about this. A useful starting point, which gives guidance on how to make valid green claims in the UK (and also explains the use of a range of symbols including the Green Dot and the Mobius loop), is Defra's Green Claims - Practical Guidance.

Green Claims - Practical Guidance builds on its predecessor, the Green Claims Code, which was last updated in June 2000, and which set out concise guidance for organisations making green claims. The Code is supported by the Confederation of British Industry, the British Retail Consortium, the Local Authorities Coordinating Body on Food and Trading Standards, and the British Standards Institution. (The Code is still current, but anyone using the more detailed Green Claims - Practical Guidance should not need to refer to the Code separately.)

The Code fits into a hierarchy of material, in which ISO 14021 is the internationally agreed standard, and the Green Claims Code is the easy-to-follow set of principles consistent with ISO that the Government has issued in the UK with stakeholder support. The UK Practical Guidance mentioned above is designed to help businesses apply these principles in practice.

The Advertising Standards Authority offers a pre-publication advice service for advertisers about whether proposed green claims in the non-broadcast media would be acceptable.

In June 2007, the ASA  published a checklist for companies wanting to promote their green credentials, stressing the importance of getting facts correct and not exaggerating claims.

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations launched guidance for companies on how to report environmental impacts, in March 2008.

Defra has also produced sector-specific guidance for sectors where research has shown that more detailed advice would help clear up confusions in the UK market:

Users of the above guidance should note that the information in it about initiatives such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme for timber and paper-based products should be read in conjunction with the current rules of the schemes themselves, which are updated from time to time. Users should always contact organisations running such schemes before making any reference to them in green claims on products (or making on-product references to membership of environmental or ethical trading schemes, which may in effect be green claims), because the names of certain organisations are trade marks.

Sometimes companies applying for contracts are asked to declare compliance with the provisions of the Green Claims Code. There is no formal certificate of compliance with its provisions, so in these circumstances companies might want to say that they observe the Code, and to show that their internal procedures require all published information about the company and its products, especially advertising, to observe the Code's provisions in any environmental claim.

When claims aren’t right

Defra cannot take enforcement action against incorrectly used claims and labels, except for labelling schemes for which Defra itself is responsible, like the European Ecolabel.

Similarly, enquiries about the certification practices for individual labels should normally be taken up in the first place with the body which administers that label. Enquiries about the specific use of a claim or label on a particular product should initially be taken up with the manufacturer or retailer.

If you believe that a claim is false or misleading, even after explanations from the retailer or manufacturer, you are entitled to take this up with the local authority’s trading standards department (look for “trading standards” in the phone book under your local council, or visit the Trading Standards Central website).  In Northern Ireland, enforcement responsibilities rest with the Trading Standards Service of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, rather than local authorities.

The Trades Descriptions Act makes it a criminal offence for traders to put a misleading trade description on their goods. More information about the Act can be obtained from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), which is responsible for consumer protection legislation. It is possible to make a complaint under the Act via the Consumer Direct website provided by BERR.

Complaints about all advertisements and promotions, including broadcast ads, can be made to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The Green Claims Code mentioned above has no statutory force, but it has been issued by two Government Departments and is supported by trading standards and industry bodies, so it is reasonable for regulatory or formal self-regulatory authorities (the courts on trades descriptions and the ASA on media advertising) to take it into account.

Defra is willing to advise about the general principles of the Code, or proposed references to it in other material, but cannot adjudicate on the particular process or product technology that lies behind a particular claim.

Sometimes companies applying for contracts are asked to declare compliance with the provisions of the Green Claims Code. There is no formal certificate of compliance with its provisions, so in these circumstances companies might want to say that they observe the Code, and to show that their internal procedures require all published information about the company and its products, especially advertising, to observe the Code's provisions in any environmental claim.

Page last modified: 2 May 2008
Page published: 11 October 2005