EU – With a clear majority the EU Parliament gave the green light on May 11, 2023 for the draft of a bill that aims to improve product labelling and the shelf life of products as well as the prevention of misleading information. The negotiation contract for the Council approved by the Parliament foresees that general environment-related details such as “environmentally-friendly”, “natural”, biodegradable”, “climate neutral” or also “eco” can only be used in future, if the claimed characteristic can be validated in detail.
Furthermore, environmental claims that are exclusively based on emission compensation systems are to be forbidden. The same applies for other misleading practices, i.e. claims about the overall product that only apply for part of the product. In future, the Parliament only wants to allow sustainability seals that are based on official certification systems or that were introduced by the state.
The new regulation also prohibits construction features that limit the service life of a product or that ensure that the product ceases to function after just a short time.
