Supplementary evidence by Procter & Gamble
GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR CONSUMER ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION AND ECOLABELS
We believe that all forms of consumer environmental information, regardless of approach, should be considered with the following principles:
— Promote innovation. Ecolabels or Environmental Claims that have criteria based on an evaluation of current products on the market, tend to reward current technologies.
Such Ecolabels/Claims may represent a barrier to future innovation if they do not holistically examine the product and contributions from all its life cycle phases and support/promote continuous innovation.
— Should define the desired direction for improvement, but not the means to get there.
— Deliver meaningful environmental improvements based on a holistic examination of the produce and contributions from all life cycle phases.
— Transparency: The criteria or basis for claims for Ecolabels should be clear and publicly available.
— Non-discriminatory: Ecolabel/claims must not favour local products without scientific justification, nor deny equivalent competitive opportunities to imports.
— Trusthful: Environmental labels/claims must not be presented in a manner that overstates the environmental attribute or benefits, expressly or by implication.
— Based on Sound Science: All forms of ecolabels/claims must be supported by scientific evidence, using methods accepted across the scientific and technical community.
— Substantiated: There must be a reasonable and traceable basis for verifying the Ecolbale or environmental claim.
— Not misleading to consumers: The information provided must be non-trivial and relevant to both the consumer/stakeholder and to environmental protection.
March 2008
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