‘Green’ product claims set to be probed by EU

Date: 22/04/1999

By Peter Chapman

Acting Consumer Affairs Comm- issioner Emma Bonino has set up a committee of EU industry and government experts to investigate 'green' claims which companies make about products.

The group, which met for the first time this week, will examine the scope for Union-wide rules in areas which are so far covered only by industry self-regulation, member state laws or limited EU initiatives.

" The EU's eco-label scheme is very well-defined, as is the directive on misleading advertising, but green claims as such are not regulated. Instead there are a whole series of codes of conduct," said an official in Bonino's Directorate-General for consumer affairs (DGXXIV). "These meetings are to see where the grey areas are and to see the different points of view between member states and interest groups."

The official added that the grey areas included claims that products were 'environmentally friendly' or that they did not contain certain 'undesirable' substances, even though these were banned anyway. "To get a feeling for the types of claims which are made, you only need visit a supermarket," she said.

The expert group is also set to examine proposals for environmental bench marks for voluntary codes of conduct from the global norm-setting International Standardisation Organisation (ISO).

Groups invited to attend the expert group meetings include environmental organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), European employers' lobby group UNICE and the European consumer group BEUC.

BEUC said in a statement that consumers often had difficulty distinguishing between claims which had formal backing and those which were self-declared. "The average consumer simply discounts all logos and labels, and buys on the basis of traditional factors such as price, packaging appeal and past experience," it added.

However, Eric Jannaert, director of public affairs with US soap giant Proctor & Gamble, said that the EU should reject calls for additional regulations to add to the legislation already in place to combat misleading advertising.

" There is already enough of a legal framework to act against misleading claims through the EU directive. It looks like most member states act on the basis of that," said Jannaert, who is also chairman of a working group on consumer marketing at UNICE.

Instead, he added, industry must be ready to "engage in a dialogue" with other groups to resolve problem areas and head off the threat of further rules.

He said the soap industry had already won European Commission support for a code of practice to help consumers to use detergents which were more environmentally friendly.

Under the scheme, soap companies hand out leaflets and point consumers to a website offering tips on how to lessen the environmental impact of their everyday washing and cleaning.