US Federal Trade Commission Proposes To Amend The "Green Guide"

In November 6, 2010, U.S.A The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has revised the Green Guide to help businesses avoid making environmental demands that mislead consumers. The proposed amendment aims to update the guide so that it can be more easily understood and used by enterprises, and help companies better adjust product requirements and meet consumers' expectations.

Revised green guide. change It includes the use and marking of commodity certificates, the requirements of "renewable energy", "renewable materials" requirements, and the new guidelines for "carbon compensation" (carbon offset).

At present, FTC is seeking public comments on the proposed amendments, with a deadline of December 10, 2010.

The green guide was first released in 1992 to help businesses ensure that their product requirements were correct and substantiated, and were revised in 1996 and 1998. The contents of the guide include:

L applies to general principles of sales requirements in all environmental markets.

L how do consumers understand these specific requirements and how businesses confirm their requirements?

How can l businesses ensure these requirements so as not to deceive consumers?

The revised guidelines will have the following changes:

1. remind businesses not to be generic. product It is "environment-friendly" or "eco-friendly", because only a few products have the special characteristics of consumers that have special effects on the environment, which makes these requirements almost impossible to be proved. In addition, it is recommended that businesses provide specific information about materials and energy used in products. If fossil fuels are used in any part of the product, businesses should not have renewable energy requirements.

2. the guide reminds businesses not to use unqualified certificates and labels, that is, those qualifications without certificates and labels should be clear, prominent and specific.

3. the guide reminds business consumers how to understand certain environmental requirements, including product degradation, composting or "no" specific substances. For example, if a business requires a product to be "degradable", it should be completed in a relatively short period of time (less than a year).

4. the proposal also provides new proposals for carbon offset requirements. Carbon compensation payments are made for projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a place to balance or offset emissions from other places. It is suggested that businesses will show that consumers' compensation for carbon emissions will reduce emissions within two years. If carbon compensation activities are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law, then publicity should be avoided.

5. the guide has also been adjusted and simplified to make it easier to read and use.

At the same time, FTC is seeking comments on all aspects of the proposal. In chapter VII of the guide, a complete list of questions can be seen for comments.

Finally, because FTC lacks sufficient basis and hopes to avoid duplication of the guidelines and other institutions' guidelines and guidelines, it does not involve the use of terminology such as "sustainable", "natural" and "organic". The organic requirements of textiles and other agricultural products are currently under the management of the National Organic Program of the US Department of agriculture.