Environmental claims: A guide for industry and advertisers

(PDF, 589 KB, 72 Pages)

Preface

This is the second edition of CSA Special Publication PLUS 14021, Environmental claims: A guide for industry and advertisers. It supersedes the previous edition published in 2000, entitled The CAN/CSA-ISO 14021 Essentials. The first objective of this Guide is to provide the users of ISO 14021, Environmental labels and declarations — Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labelling), with a best practice guide to the application of the standard and some practical examples of how the standard could be applied to environmental claims in the Canadian marketplace.

The second objective is to provide assistance to industry and advertisers in complying with certain provisions of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, and the Textile Labelling Act, administered and enforced by the Competition Bureau, an independent law-enforcement agency of the Government of Canada that protects and promotes competitive markets and enables informed consumer choice for the prosperity of Canadians. To achieve both of these objectives, the Bureau has partnered with CSA on this edition to ensure it is offered free of charge to the public and will serve both as an aid to interpreting CAN/CSA-ISO 14021 and as a best practice guide to complying with the provisions of the above statutes that prohibit false or misleading representations.

Adherence to the advice contained in this Guide on environmental claims will enhance the provision of meaningful information to consumers and will assist industry by providing “best practices” for self-declared environmental claims. This Guide provides examples of preferred approaches and discouraged approaches to illustrate commonly used environmental claims; shows how to avoid misleading or deceptive claims relating to an implied or expressed environmental benefit; establishes the guidelines for Mobius loop markings; and suggests methodologies for tests that can be used to clarify claims.

This Guide is primarily based on CAN/CSA-ISO 14021 and thus supersedes Principles and Guidelines for Environmental Labelling and Advertising (PGELA), published by Industry and Science Canada in 1993. This Guide is not a regulation. The Competition Bureau considers that the guidelines advocated in this document reflect “best practices”. While the Bureau supports the use of voluntary standards, which encourage conformity with the laws and regulations, businesses are free to adopt any business practice they so choose, as long as the claims they are making are not false or misleading. Therefore, while the Competition Bureau will use this Guide as a reference for evaluating environmental claims, deviations from the Guide might not, in and of themselves, represent a contravention of the Competition Act and/or the labelling statutes enforced by the Competition Bureau. Environmental claims that raise concerns under these statutes may be examined on a case-by-case basis, and each case will be assessed on its own merits.

If the principles and specific requirements of CAN/CSA-ISO 14021 as recommended in this Guide are complied with, it is unlikely that environmental claims used in the promotion of a product/service or business interest would raise concerns under the statutes administered by the Competition Bureau. The examples of misleading or deceptive claims provided in this Guide are not binding statements of how discretion may be exercised in a particular situation. Guidance may be requested from the Competition Bureau through its Program of Advisory Opinions. Businesses may opt to seek a binding written opinion under this program to determine whether a proposed environmental claim would raise concerns under the Competition Act.

June 2008