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'Green' Advertising Guidelines Updated by U.S. Trade Commission
2010-10-06 13:50:01.0 GMT
By Sara Forden
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission
proposed new "green" advertising guidelines that warn against
making unsupported or misleading environmental claims.
The proposed changes to the agency's Green Guides, which
were issued in 1992 and last updated in 1998, add advice on
claims involving renewable energy and materials, carbon-
pollution offsets and carbon-neutral products, according to a
statement issued by the FTC today.
Advertisers should avoid making blanket claims that a
product is "environmentally friendly" or "eco-friendly"
because such assertions are almost impossible to verify, the FTC
said. If a product is labeled "degradable," it should
decompose in no more than one year, according to the new
guidelines.
"What companies think green claims mean and what consumers
really understand are sometimes two different things," said FTC
Chairman Jon Leibowitz. "The proposed updates to the Green
Guides will help businesses better align their product claims
with consumer expectations."
Products shouldn't be described as made with renewable
energy if any part of the product was derived from fossil fuels,
the guidelines said. When renewable-energy claims are made, the
energy source should be specified.
Carbon-offset claims, involving supporting projects that
reduce greenhouse gases to counterbalance emissions elsewhere,
should state whether the emission reductions will take longer
than two years to achieve, the FTC said. Marketers shouldn't
advertise offset activities if they are already required by law,
the guidelines said.
The FTC is seeking public comment on the new guidelines by
Dec. 10. Responses can be mailed to the FTC or registered online
at: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/revisedgreenguides.
For Related News and Information:
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For top legal stories: TOP LAW <GO>
For carbon markets: EMIS <GO>
--Editors: Larry Liebert, James Callan
To contact the reporter on this story:
Sara Forden in Washington at +1-202-654-1915 or
sforden@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert in Washington at +1-202-624-1936 or
lliebert@bloomberg.net;
