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Overview of the guiding
principles for green marketing
regulations
Brinsley Dresden
Lewis Silkin LLP
18th September 2009
Topics to be discussed
• What are the sources of legal and
regulatory control?
• What are the main requirements of
those laws and regulations?
What are the sources of
regulation?
• ISO 14021: International Standard on
Environmental labels and declarations
• International Chamber of Commerce –
Advertising & Marketing Communication
Practice
• National laws
• National Self-Regulatory Organisation
Code requirements
ISO 14021
• The International Standard relating to
self-declared environment claims in ads
• Often referred to in other codes
• Strong presumption that adherence to
ISO 14021 will result in compliance with
other applicable laws and regulations
• But need to consider other applicable
laws and codes too
Definitions from ISO 14021
• “Environmental Claim” = any
statement, symbol or graphic that
indicates an environmental aspect of
a product, a component or packaging
• Can be on product, packaging, in
literature, advertising, PR,
telemarketing, digital or electronic
media
Best Practice Guidelines
• Considerable overlap between codes
• What follows is attempt to consolidate
principles into single set of best
practice guidelines
• Adherence to these principles should
result in compliance
General Principles
• All advertising should be legal, decent,
honest and truthful
• No advertising should mislead, or be
likely to mislead, by inaccuracy,
ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or
otherwise
General Principles
• Advertisers must hold documentary
evidence to prove all claims, whether
direct or implied, that are capable of
objective substantiation
• Advertising should not encourage or
condone behaviour that is or may be
damaging to the environment
Environmental claims should....
• be specific about the environmental
aspect that is claimed;
• be unambiguous and unlikely to result
in misinterpretation;
• be true in relation to the entire life
cycle of the product; and
• be reassessed & updated as
necessary
Environmental claims should not...
• suggest environmental benefits that do
not exist nor exaggerate the
environmental aspects of a product
• suggest that they are based on recent
advances or modifications if they are
based on pre-existing but previously
undisclosed aspects of the product
Unacceptable Claims
• Vague or non-specific claims or claims
which broadly imply that a product is
environmentally beneficial or benign, e.g.
ozone friendly
• Many claims relating to sustainability
(because everything has a impact on the
environment to some degree)
Unacceptable Claims
• Claims based on the absence of a
harmful chemical or damaging effect, if
the product category does not generally
include the chemical or cause the effect
• Claims based on the absence of harmful
constituents if the product contains
other equally harmful elements
Unacceptable Claims
• Spurious ‘free from …’ claims (unless
there is no more than a trace element
of the specified substance), e.g. “CFC
free” after these have commonly been
removed
• Claims that cannot be verified without
access to confidential business
information (because not verifiable)
Substantiation & verification
• Advertisers should implement
evaluation measures to verify
environmental claims before publication
• Advertisers should fully document
their evaluation and the documentation
should be retained for the period that
the product is on the market and for a
reasonable period thereafter
Substantiation & verification
• Absolute and superiority claims (e.g.
the most fuel efficient engine on the
market) require a higher threshold of
substantiation than relative claims
• Should be used with considerable
caution but may be acceptable if they
can be substantiated
Substantiation and verification
The minimum information that should
be retained includes:
• Identification of the standard or
method used (particularly if the claim
involves a comparison with other
products)
• Documentary evidence
Substantiation and verification
• Test results (if applicable) and
details of testing body
• Evidence that the claims will remain
accurate during the period that the
product is on the market and for a
reasonable period thereafter, taking
into account the life of the product
Explanatory Statements
• If a claim is likely to result in
misunderstanding, the claim should be
accompanied by an explanatory
statement
• Generally speaking, only statements
which are valid “in all foreseeable
consequences with no qualifications”
can be made without an explanatory
statement
Explanatory Statements
• The explanatory statement shall be of
reasonable size and in reasonable
proximity to the relevant
environmental claim
Language
• Avoid use of extravagant language
• Avoid bogus scientific terms
• Avoid confusing scientific terms
• N.B. Some countries also have
requirements about use of local
national language in advertising
Use of specific claims
• ISO Code, ICC Code and have specific
rules about several terms which
commonly appear in environmental
claims
• These terms may only be used if
certain criteria are fulfilled
• And/or if they are suitably qualified
Use of specific claims
• Compostable
• Degradable
• Designed for
disassembly
• Extended life product
• Recovered energy
• Recyclable
• Recycled content
• Reduced energy
consumption
• Reduced resource
consumption
• Reduced resource use
• Reduced water
consumption
• Reusable and refillable
• Waste reduction
Any Questions?
Brinsley Dresden
Lewis Silkin LLP
+44 20 7074 8069
[email protected]