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New proposals to tackle greenwash and inaccurate product claims

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 23 March 2010

76/10 New proposals to tackle greenwash and build consumer confidence in environmental claims and labelling have been announced today by Defra.

Two consultations have been launched - one aimed at helping consumers identify goods and services that are genuinely better for the environment, and another ensuring that energy-using products meet minimum performance standards and are accurately labelled.

The proposed update of the Green Claims Guidance will make it easier for businesses to market their ‘green’ credentials in a fair and understandable way. A separate consultation on new enforcement powers for energy-using products and energy labelling regulations will ensure manufacturers and retailers of products such as dishwashers, washing machines, TVs and fridges meet minimum energy standards and give accurate information on their energy label (the ‘A-G’ label).

Environment Minister Dan Norris said:

“With so many products claiming to be environmentally friendly, it is difficult to tell which companies are really making big improvements. The updated Green Claims Guidance will help businesses with genuine ‘green’ credentials by providing clear practical guidance on how they should advertise. Importantly, it will protect consumers from misleading and confusing claims.

“The proposed new enforcement powers should build consumers’ confidence that legally binding minimum energy efficiency standards for products are being met and that energy labels are accurate, so they can make properly informed choices. This will make it easier for people to do the right thing by the environment.”

The Green Claims Guidance represents good practice to be followed on a voluntary basis, and can be applied to any marketing and advertising that companies wish to make about their environmental performance. The guidance sets out the key principles that businesses should consider to ensure their claims are clear, accurate and relevant to consumers. The update to the guidance strengthens the principles from the previous guidance and provides more practical information and advice relevant to the current market.

The second consultation proposes increasing the powers available to the National Measurement Office (NMO), which monitors the energy efficiency of products and energy labelling by introducing civil sanctions for manufactures and importers that fail to comply with energy efficiency standards or give inaccurate information on their energy labels. The civil sanctions will provide a fairer, quicker and more flexible method of regulating energy using products than the current criminal sanctions allow. They include notices requiring a manufacturer or importer to stop non-compliant activities or bring products into compliance; monetary penalties which could reflect environmental damage caused, when prosecution is not in the public interest; or voluntary agreements for manufacturers or importers to take actions to inform and reimburse consumers or offer to rectify non-compliance such as amending the labelling. The second consultation also proposes introducing a cost sharing regime so that non-compliant businesses will bear the cost of testing for enforcement activities. This will create additional incentives for businesses to comply by ensuring a fairer distribution of responsibilities.

Notes to Editors

1. The consultation on the Green Claims Code can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/green-claims/index.htm

2. The consultation on introducing civil sanctions for energy using products can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/eup-labelling2010/index.htm

3. Both consultations run from 23 March until 15 June 2010.

4. Defra’s Practical Guidance on Green Claims was first published in 2003. The updated guidance builds on these principles and provides more detail and examples which are relevant to the current market. The guidance applies to all types of marketing and advertising that companies voluntarily make about their environmental performance.

5. The National Measurement Office was appointed as the Market Surveillance Authority with enforcement responsibility for mandatory energy labelling and minimum energy efficiency standards in November 2009. The enforcement of the duty on retailers to correctly display the energy label still rests with Trading Standards Officers.

6. A product that fails a compliance test is tested three further times to check the result. If the average result falls below minimum standards and the manufacturer ignores requests by the NMO to bring the product into compliance, the only option currently available is a criminal prosecution.

7. Although not covered by the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions (RES) Act, the sanctions proposed are in line with their recently agreed proposals. The four civil sanctions proposed are:

· Compliance notices –requiring the manufacturer or retailer to take actions to comply with the law;

· Stop notices – requiring the manufacturer or retailer to cease activity that may be causing harm;

· Enforcement undertakings – agreed actions for the non-complying manufacturer to take such as advertising the breach to consumers, offering reimbursements and agreeing to change future labelling;

· Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs) – a proportionate monetary penalty for serious offences, when prosecution is not in public interest.

Contacts:

Defra Press Office
Phone: 020 7238 6600
NDS.DEFRA@coi.gsi.gov.uk

Rachel Clark
Phone: 020 7238 5599
rachel.clark@defra.gsi.gov.uk