Download reference document for the development of environmental marketing

REFERENCE DOCUMENT
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL
MARKETING CLAIM GUIDES
ICPEN/RICPC
International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network
REFERENCE DOCUMENT FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
MARKETING CLAIM GUIDES
Contents
Introduction
Part A: Topics Located within Current Guides
- How the consumer protection laws/ specific legislation and/or
standards apply to environmental claims …………………………....…..p.3
- Definition of environmental marketing claims ………………………..…p.3
- Principles and/or requirements for environmental marketing ……….…..p.4
- General environmental claims……………………………………..…......p.5
- Existing environmental regulatory, labelling and declaration schemes…..p.6
- Further information and referrals…………………………………………p.8
- Other topics for consideration to include in a guide ……………………..p.8
Part B: Lessons Learned and Experiences from Members who have Drafted
Green Guides
- Development of guidelines……………………………………………….p.9
- Promotion of guidelines………………………………………………….p.12
Part C: Reference Materials ……………………… ……………….………….p.13
Acknowledgements
1
Introduction
As consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the environment there is a
demand for environmental information about the products from consumers, government
and industry. Vague, unsubstantiated, confusing or misleading information has the
potential to reduce consumer confidence in the market, as well as disadvantaging
environmental related business.
Effective guidance in relation to environmental marketing claims may provide added
certainty and clarification to business and promote that compliance with the law is in
the best interest of business. Certainty and compliance in turn is beneficial to
consumers.
There is no one single approach or template in relation to writing a guideline for
environmental or green marketing claims. Jurisdictions tailor their guidance to apply to
their laws, general marketing principles and/or to apply to a required standard.
There are however some patterns in relation to developing effective guides.
The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) Green
Claims Working Group have written this reference document to assist agencies who are
considering the development of an environmental marketing or ‘green’ claims guide.
This reference document draws together the common topics and areas found across
current Green Claims guides known to the Working Group. Also, current members with
guides have provided some of their lessons learned and practical experience in
developing, promoting and ensuring compliance with their guidance. It is hoped that
the comparison of current guidance and international sharing of information will aid in
the development of effective guides.
Information, suggestions and examples provided in this reference document are
illustrative only providing topics and ideas for consideration. This reference document
outlines what could be considered for inclusion in an environmental marketing guide
however, it does not provide an exhaustive list of what may apply to a guide or for all
situations and are not necessarily endorsed by all members but are provided as a sample
of examples for consideration. An effective guide is one that is tailored to the relevant
law or standard, provided in the context of environmental marketing and aligns to the
domestic issues of the jurisdiction.
2
Part A
Topics Located within Current Green Guides
There are some trends across the various current environmental marketing guides of
similar topics. The ICPEN Green Claims Working Group found that it may be useful
for those developing guides to consider whether those topics would be beneficial within
your guides.
Topics within current member guides include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
How the consumer protection laws/ specific legislation and/or standards apply
to environmental claims
Definition of ‘Environmental Marketing Claims’
Principles and/or requirements for environmental marketing
General environmental claims
Existing environmental regulatory, labelling and declaration schemes
Further information and referrals
How the consumer protection laws/ specific legislation and/or standards apply to
environmental claims
Effective guidelines provide business and consumers with an understanding of how the
law or applicable standards apply in their jurisdiction in relation to environmental
claims. Guidelines are effective when tailored to suit the domestic jurisdiction, are
presented in plain language that a reasonable person can understand and is applied in
the context of environmental claims.
An agency may also like to consider providing the role and responsibility of the
Consumer Authority as well as the scope of the guide in relation to environmental
claims. Depending on jurisdictions the guidelines may apply to labelling, advertising,
promotional materials and all other forms of marketing whether asserted directly or by
implication through words, symbols, emblems, logos, pictures, product brand names
and colours. It is often useful to emphasise that pictures and symbols can be
representations and be interpreted to convey an environmental claim by implication.
Definition of environmental marketing claims
As each jurisdiction differs in approach, agencies may like to provide definitions for
what constitutes ‘environmental marketing claims’ in their guidance. These definitions
can be specific or generic in nature. Some jurisdictions apply the definitions and
classifications as provided in various standards, one example being ISO 14021:1999 for
self-declared environmental claims. Other jurisdictions provide a generic approach and
apply their guides to all advertising and other forms of marketing that apply to any
claim about the environmental attributes of a product, package or service. In addition,
guidance may wish to refer to environmental marketing claims as ‘green claims’ or
provide an explanatory note that the guide will utilise both terms throughout the guide.
3
Principles and/or requirements for environmental marketing
One aim behind environmental claim guidance is to educate business and consumers
that self declared marketing claims should be made in accordance with good marketing
practices in compliance with the domestic legislation. This may be that the claims
should not be misleading, fraudulent, deceptive or unfair depending on legislative
provisions. In general across jurisdictions claims aim to be
-
made in clear and plain language;
accurate, honest, and truthful; and
able to be substantiated and/or verifiable.
Environmental marketing claims are difficult by nature. It is hard for a consumer to
verify the accuracy of an environmental claim by looking at the product or packaging
or without having the relevant scientific knowledge. Some agencies include some of the
following principles in their current guidelines:
-
make it clear between benefits of product, package and service;
not to overstate or exaggerate a benefit or environmental attribute;
provide clear, prominent and understandable qualifications or disclosures (when
required) to prevent deception or misunderstanding;
present comparative claims in a way that avoids consumer deception/
misunderstanding and is able to be substantiated/ verified; and/or
provide consideration of the whole product life-cycle.
It is noted that the guidance topics above will differ according to each jurisdiction. For
some jurisdictions they will be general principles of good marketing, for others they
may be requirements as prescribed by a standard or law, for example ISO 14021:1999
for self-declared environmental claims.
To assist in the guidance and to place into the environmental marketing context the use
of examples can be highly effective. Some examples used by various current green
guides tailored to their domestic circumstances include:
Claims must be accurate:
A manufacturer of washing machines claims that their new model reduces water
usage by 75 per cent. In fact it only reduces water usage by 25 per cent in most
normal households. This claim may risk misleading consumers and breaching the
provisions of the law. 1
Claims must be accurate, balanced and not exaggerated:
Marketing a catalyst converter in a manner that conveys the impression that the
exhaust has the same fresh quality as country air is out of proportion and may conflict
with Nordic marketing law. 2
1
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, Green Marketing and the Trade Practices Act,
2008, p.8.
2
Nordic Consumer Ombudsman, Ethical and Environmental marketing Claims: a Guideline, 2005.
4
Distinction between benefits of product, package and service:
A box of aluminium foil is labelled with the claim “recyclable”, without further
elaboration. Unless the type of product, surrounding language, or other context of the
phrase established whether the claim refers to the foil or the box, the claim is
deceptive if any part of either the box or the foil, other than minor, incidental
components, cannot be recycled. 3
Overstatement of an environmental attribute:
A package labelled “50% more recycled content than before.” The manufacturer
increased the recycled content of its package from 2 percent recycled material to 3
percent recycled material. Although the claim is technically true, it is likely to convey
the false impression that the advertiser has increased significantly the use of recycled
material. 4
General environmental claims
There may be some environmental marketing claims which are broad and generic in
nature. Some general and unqualified claims may become problematic as they can be
ambiguous and do not explain the specific environmental benefit hence may require
guidance to business and industry. It is noted that jurisdictions will differ in relation to
which claims are problematic. Some claims noted as a ‘general claim’ in one
jurisdiction could be ‘specific’ for another as they can be prescribed by a standard or
law, for example ISO 14021:1999 for self-declared environmental claims. Below is an
indicative list of some of the claims provided for in various environmental guidance
tailored to the needs of the particular jurisdiction and marketing issues for their
business and consumers:
-
environmentally safe, environmentally friendly, environmentally preferable,
green, eco-safe, earth smart, ecological;
recyclable, recycled content, refilled, refillable, reuseable;
degradable, bio-degradable, photodegradable, compostable;
renewable energy, green energy, reduced energy consumption, recovered
energy, pure energy; and
ozone safe, ozone friendly, climate friendly, climate neutral.
Once again use of examples are an effective way to enhance guidance and provide the
nexus with environmental marketing. Please find below a variety of ways examples can
be written extracted from current member guides:
Example 1:A brand name like “Eco-safe” would be deceptive if, in the context of the
product so named, it leads consumers to believe that the product has environmental
benefits which cannot be substantiated by the manufacturer. The claim would not be
deceptive if “Eco-safe” were followed by clear and prominent qualifying language
limiting the safety representation to a particular product attribute for which it could
be substantiated, and provided that no other deceptive implications were created by
the context. 5
3
US Federal Trade Commission, Guides for the Use of Environmental marketing Claims, §260.6(b).
Ibid, §260.6(c).
5
US Federal Trade Commission, Guides for the Use of Environmental marketing Claims, §260.7(a).
4
5
Example2: Preferred
This product uses 20% less electricity in normal use than our pervious model.
Discouraged
This new and improved product is better for the environment.
This product uses green electricity. 6
Example 3: A paper product is labelled as containing “100% recycled fiber.” The
claim is not deceptive if the advertiser can substantiate the conclusion that 100% by
weight of the fiber in the finished product is recycled. 7
Example 4: If a box of cereal is labelled “XX% recycled package” and the package
consists of a paperboard box with a wax paper bag inside holding the cereal, the claim
“XX% recycled package” must apply to both the box and the bag. If the claim refers
only to the box, it should be stated as such. 8
Example 5: An aluminium soft drink can is labelled “XX% recycled”. No
qualification for this claim is necessary because it is obvious to consumers that the
can is recycled – not the contents in the can. 9
Example 6: A company that manufactured air conditioners issued a brochure with
claims such as ‘environmentally friendly HFC R407C added’ and ‘for a new ozone
era – keeping the world green’.
The court declared that the brochures was misleading and deceptive, and that it
contained false and misleading representations in breach of the Act by representing
that its air conditioning units were environmentally-friendly when in fact some of the
gases employed in its air conditioning units were powerful greenhouse gases which
contribute to global warming, are ozone depleting substances and do not benefit the
environment. 10
Existing environmental regulatory, labelling and declaration schemes
Label schemes and symbols may serve as an important source of information about a
product or a company. There may be government administered schemes such possible
environmental efficiency schemes for energy or water or logos and trademarks
registered with certain environmental or charitable organisations that can be placed on a
product.
An environmental guideline may want to provide information on particular schemes
relevant to the jurisdiction. Some logos may have specific meaning depending on how
it is used, such as the Mobius loop (the recyclability logo), and guidance may be a
suitable addition. Also of additional assistance may be general guidance on the use of
such symbol and logos in relation to their application to the laws for misleading,
6
Competition Bureau Canada and Canadian Standards Association, Environmental Claims: A Guide for
Industry and Advertisers, 2008, p.10.
7
US Federal Trade Commission, Guides for the Use of Environmental marketing Claims, §260.7(e).
8
Competition Bureau Canada and Canadian Standards Association, Environmental Claims: A Guide for
Industry and Advertisers, 2008, p.14.
9
Ibid; p.14.
10
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, Green Marketing and the Trade Practices Act,
2008, p.13.
6
deceptive, fraudulent or unfair conduct or that the use of certain logos and trademarks
may require explicit consent or registration for use.
Agencies may want to consider the misuse of a logo even when a product has been
certified by an independent certification body. While a particular product may have
been certified for a specific aspect (like energy consumption) and thus be entitled to use
the ‘Energy Star logo’ for example, the business promoting the product should avoid
using the logo to imply other unrelated environmental benefits which have nothing to
do with reduced energy consumption. Such application of the logo could be considered
misleading. Similarly, a businesses self-made logo can also have a misleading effect if
used incorrectly.
Examples of various labelling across jurisdictions:
The Mobius loop: 11
The Equipment Energy Efficiency Program, a joint initiative of the Australian and
New Zealand government: 12
Nordic Swan eco label, commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers: 13
EU Flower, the official environmental eco label of the European Commission: 14
11
Competition Bureau Canada and Canadian Standards Association, Environmental Claims: A Guide for
Industry and Advertisers, 2008, p.24.
12
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, Green Marketing and the Trade Practices Act,
2008, p.17.
13
Nordic Consumer Ombudsmen, Ethical and Environmental Claims Guideline, 2005.
14
Ibid.
7
Further information and referrals
Often issues relating to the environment are the represented across government
departments, consumer enforcement agencies, consumer associations and other groups
such as those that regulate certain environmental schemes.
It may be of assistance to business and consumers to provide information on other
departments, organisations or associations that may be of benefit along with website
contact details.
Other topics for consideration to include in a guide
Other topics an agency may like to consider in the development of their environmental
guide include:
•
specific comparative claims guidance;
- Comparative claims have the potential to mislead consumers. Guidelines can
offer information and example to assist business in development of explanatory
statement to identify the benchmark against which the claims have been
evaluated. 15
•
a checklist or ‘thing to remember’ section to provide a practical summary of the
guidance;
- Items such as a checklist are particularly helpful to business and marketing
staff as a reminder when producing and developing advertising campaigns to
assist in identifying any misleading impressions. 16
•
procedure for future reviews of the environmental guideline.
- Jurisdictions have different reviewing processes, or ways for stakeholders to
provide comment or suggest amendment to the guidelines. An outline of any
review process may be considered beneficial to the guidance. 17
15
An example can be found in Competition Bureau Canada and Canadian Standards Association,
Environmental Claims: A Guide for Industry and Advertisers, 2008, p.29.
16
An example can be found in Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, Green Marketing and
the Trade Practices Act, 2008, p.22.
17
An example can be found in US Federal Trade Commission, Guides for the Use of Environmental
marketing Claims, §260.4.
8
Part B
Lessons Learned and Experiences
from Members who have Drafted Green Guides
Development of Guidelines
Scope of guidelines
•
As agencies differ in jurisdictional requirements a guide can over cover many
different areas across jurisdictions. Many businesses have a multi-national
structure or participate in the export market and will be seeking to comply with
guidance around the world. Providing a provision on the scope of the guidelines
may be of assistance to readers. Things to consider including in the scope range
from:
- disclaimers that the guideline is not an exhaustive account of how to employ
environmental claims;
- the effect of the guidelines at law;
- that the guide represent an administrative interpretation, not a legal
interpretation and conduct inconsistent with the law may result in corrective/
enforcement action in accordance with the role and responsibilities of the
Consumer Agency;
- an outline of the role and responsibilities of the Consumer Agency in relation
to environmental claims; and/or
- what environmental claims the guide applies to eg labelling, advertising,
promotional materials and all other forms of marketing whether asserted
directly or by implication. This can also apply to the use of symbols, logos,
descriptors, colours etc.
Use of examples in the guide
•
The use of examples has the ability to make the guide and content more
understandable, accessible and consumer-friendly for the reader. Examples provide
clarification and in some instances substitute for long explanations. Of most benefit
is providing specific and practical environmental marketing claim examples which
will assist your audience relate to the guidance being relevant to their situation.
The challenge of managing expectations
•
There may be pressure from those who have contributed to the process or the wider
public to expand the role of an agency to be able to set minimum standards, laws,
regulations or codes of conduct as part of their guidelines. One option could be to
ensure the role, responsibility and kinds of complaints the Consumer Authority can
address is clear in the scope and purpose of a guideline. An explanatory document
to accompany the guidance, which explains why the guide did not address certain
things and direction to the appropriate agency may be another option to consider.
9
•
Sometimes there may be several government agencies and departments with a role
in the area of environmental claims and how such a guide may affect the industry.
Keeping in regular contact with other departments may ensure the agency does not
exceed its mandate and also may provide awareness of possible policy
developments in their areas that would affect the developing guidance. Some
methods of communication included regular liaison and updates on the progress and
key messages of the guidance and inter-department meetings. Development of joint
guidance between departments, like agencies or across jurisdictions could also be
considered - one example is the joint guidance of the Nordic Consumer
Ombudsmans’ including Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark.
•
Regular contact meetings with those agencies who administer the environmental
labelling schemes or certification agencies can be mutually beneficial. The
administrating body can supply practical information in relation to the scheme to
assist the development of the guide. Also the developed guide can be utilised by the
administrating body to communicate the relevant principles to the businesses who
contact them. In addition these contacts can be an important enforcement tool
informing the enforcement agency about potential breeches of the relevant
legislation.
•
Agencies are likely to receive many submissions to assist in the development of the
guide. Australia, for example, received over 100 written and oral submissions for
the Carbon Claims Guide. One issue that may arise is to provide reassurance to
those that contributed that their submissions had been considered and evaluated.
The ACCC developed a separate document to address the various points raised in
submissions that fell outside the scope of the guide. This provided reassurance and
a way to communicate to interested parties where further information on those
topics could be found such as other agencies with environmental responsibilities.
Consultation
•
Consultation across a variety of stakeholders and interest groups was found to
be effective. Some areas of consultation to consider include but are not confined
to:
a) Relevant government departments and self governing/ independent agencies
b) Industry representatives and associations
Reaching out to industry associations covers a wide range of interested
parties from industry members who provide environmental services, those
who use environmental claims to those who develop the marketing for
industry. Some associations worth considering include:
- electrical (eg air conditioning) manufacturer associations;
- association of national advertisers;
- television and radio associations;
- environmental business associations;
- consumer electronic supplier associations; and
- sector specific or general national industry associations.
10
c) Consumer and environmental organisations
These organisations may include:
- Conservation or Preservation Organisations; and
- Consumer Federations/ associations/ consumer magazine publishers.
Distribution methods
•
To promote environmentally friendly distribution methods, consideration could be
given to providing the guidance document only from a website rather than
developing paper based copies.
•
Distribution methods may need to be considered in light of policy or regulatory
conditions at the time of the Guides release. For example the ACCC decided to
release a Carbon Claims Guide separate to their Green Marketing Guide and unlike
most publication the Carbon Guide was only released electronically via the website.
The reasoning behind this was that the guide was developed amid a rapidly
evolving policy and regulatory environment which had potential to have a large
impact on the industry. Being in electronic form ensured the publication could be
quickly updated if required by policy changes or introduction of a national carbon
offset standard and also avoided the potential problem of having to pulp hard copies
of the guidance if further changes were made after the print run.
•
One lesson learned was that if agency decides to publish an environmental guide on
recycled paper or utilise plant based inks etc there will be interested parties that will
test these claims.
11
Promotion of Guidelines
Consumer fact sheets
•
Fact sheets can be an ideal way to provide short, to the point facts to the
consumer. Please find examples of factsheet or backgrounder ideas at:
Australian Competition Consumer Commission consumer factsheet:
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/808269
Competition Bureau, Canada backgrounder:
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/epic/site/cb-bc.nsf/en/02702e.html
US Federal Trade Commission consumer factsheet:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/general/gen02.pdf
Industry information letters
•
The development of instructional documents regarding the use of environmental
claims may be useful to educate specific industries or products.
One example is the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman’s information letter to
traders and importers of cars in Norway:
http://www.forbrukerombudet.no/asset/2857/1/2857_1.pdf
Business and industry seminars
•
Seminars to various stakeholder groups have been found to be effective to
spread awareness of environmental claim guidelines, good marketing practices
and compliance with domestic legislation in relation to their environmental
marketing.
12
Part C
Reference Materials
The ICPEN Green Claims Working Group encourages all who are developing guides to
utilise the guidelines that are publicly available to assist in your guidance. Please find
below environmental marketing guidelines that the ICPEN Green Claims Working
Group is aware of at the time of writing:
ICPEN Green Claims Working Group members:
Australia Competition and Consumer Commission
Green Marketing and Trade Practices Act Business Guide
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/815763
Carbon Claims and the Trade Practices Act Business Guide
http://intranet.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/960248
Competition Bureau, Canada and Canadian Standards Association
Environmental Claims: A Guide for Industry and Advertisers
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/epic/site/cb-bc.nsf/vwapj/guide-for-industryand-advertisers-en.pdf/$FILE/guide-for-industry-and-advertisers-en.pdf (Eng)
http://www.bureaudelaconcurrence.gc.ca/epic/site/cb-bc.nsf/fr/02700f.html (Fr)
Finland, Kuluttaja Consumer Agency and Ombudsman
Guidelines on the use of Environmentally Oriented Claims in Marketing
http://www.kuluttajavirasto.fi/File/af79d071-4cdd-4ac4-b996d677356bb3fb/The+use+of+environmentally+oriented+claims+in+marketing+.pdf
New Zealand Commerce Commission
The Fair Trading Act – Guidelines for Green Marketing
http://www.comcom.govt.nz/FairTrading/GuidelinesforGreenMarketing/Overview.as
px
Nordic Consumer Ombudsmen
Ethical and Environmental Marketing Claims Guideline
http://www.forbrug.dk/english/dco/dcoguides/guidelines-and-guidances/claims/
US Federal Trade Commission
Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/grnrule/guides980427
Complying with the US FTC's Environmental Marketing Guides Publication
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/greenguides.pdf
Green Guide review including updates, workshops and submitted comments
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/energy/about_guides.shtml.
13
Others:
European Commission, Directorate-General Health & Consumer Protection
Guidelines for Making and Assessing Environmental Claims
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_safe/news/green/guidelines_en.pdf
UK, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Green Claims – Practical Guidance
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/consumerprod/glc/claims.htm
UK, Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
Green Supply Guidelines
http://www,ofgem.gov.uk/Media/PressRel/Documents1/040209ofgem8.pdf
14
Acknowledgements
The ICPEN Green Claims Working Group was established in April 2008 at the Puerto
Varas ICPEN Conference as part of the ICPEN Strategic Plan as Green Claims was a
topic of interest to many members. The Working Group’s objectives are to seek crossborder opportunities for coordinated action against deceptive, misleading and/or
fraudulent advertising, to enhance information exchange and share the experiences and
lessons learned of members to assist others in relation to environmental marketing
claims. The Working Group aims to cover the full range of activities conducted by
consumer agencies in order to encourage industry to comply with the law, including
guidance, administrative actions or enforcement cases.
Members of the ICPEN Green Claims Working Group include staff from:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Belgium, DG Enforcement & Mediation, FPS Economy, SMEs, Selfemployed
& Energy
Competition Bureau, Canada
Danish Consumer Ombudsman, Denmark
Finnish Consumer Agency and Ombudsman
Japan, Cabinet Office
Netherlands Consumer Authority
New Zealand Commerce Commission
Consumer Ombudsman, Norway
Consumer Directorate General, Portugal
National Institute of Consumers, Spain
Office of Fair Trading, United Kingdom
Federal Trade Commission, United States of America
15