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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 197 / Thursday, October 11, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
1
The FTC issued the Green Guides in 1992, with
subsequent updates in 1996 and 1998. To avoid
confusion, we refer to the current Guides as the
‘‘1998 Guides.’’
2
In October 2010, the Commission proposed
changes to the 1998 Guides. 75 FR 63552 (Oct. 15,
2010).
3
The Commission additionally makes a minor
change to an example in the Source Reduction
section (16 CFR 260.17, Example 1) and retains the
guidance on Refillable claims (16 CFR 260.14)
without change.
4
The final Guides do not include specific
guidance for organic, natural, or sustainable claims.
5
16 CFR 260.4(b).
6
16 CFR 260.4, Example 3. The Commission has
moved many of the original examples to newly-
created sections (see, e.g., Certifications and Seals
of Approval, Free-Of, and Non-toxic).
7
16 CFR 260.4(c).
8
16 CFR 260.4(d).
9
16 CFR 260.4(c), Example 4.
10
16 CFR 260.4(c), Example 5.
11
16 CFR 260.5.
12
16 CFR 260.6(a).
13
16 CFR 260.6(b), citing 16 CFR 255.
14
Examples 2, 3, 4, 8.
15
Voluntary consensus standard bodies are
‘‘organizations which plan, develop, establish, or
coordinate voluntary consensus standards using
agreed-upon procedures. * * * A voluntary
consensus standards body is defined by the
following attributes: (i) Openness, (ii) balance of
interest, (iii) due process, (iv) an appeals process,
(v) consensus, which is defined as general
agreement, but not necessarily unanimity, and
includes a process for attempting to resolve
objections by interested parties, as long as all
comments have been fairly considered, each
objector is advised of the disposition of his or her
objection(s) and the reasons why, and the
consensus members are given an opportunity to
change their votes after reviewing the comments.’’
Circular No. A–119 Revised, Office of Management
and Budget at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
circulars
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
16 CFR Part 260
Guides for the Use of Environmental
Marketing Claims
AGENCY
:
Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION
:
Adoption of Revised Guides.
SUMMARY
:
The Federal Trade
Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)
adopts revised Guides for the Use of
Environmental Marketing Claims
(‘‘Green Guides’’ or ‘‘Guides’’). This
document summarizes the
Commission’s revisions to the Guides
and includes the final Guides.
DATES
:
Effective October 11, 2012.
ADDRESSES
:
Readers can find the
Commission’s complete analysis in the
Statement of Basis and Purpose
(‘‘Statement’’) on the FTC’s Web site at
http://www.ftc.gov/os/fedreg/2012/10/
greenguidesstatement.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Laura Koss, Attorney, Division of
Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission,
202–326–2890.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
:
As part of
its comprehensive review of its Green
Guides,
1
the Commission reviewed
public comments, public workshop
transcripts, and consumer perception
research.
2
The Commission now makes
several modifications and additions to
the 1998 Guides and adopts the
resulting revised Guides as final.
The Commission modifies sections for
the following claims: General
Environmental Benefit, Compostable,
Degradable, Ozone, Recyclable, and
Recycled Content.
3
Additionally, the
Commission creates the following new
sections: Carbon Offsets, Certifications
and Seals of Approval, Free-of, Non-
toxic, Made with Renewable Energy,
and Made with Renewable Materials.
4
Finally, the Commission makes non-
substantive changes throughout the
Guides to make them easier to read and
use, including simplifying language and
reorganizing sections to make
information easier to find. Industry
guides, such as these, are administrative
interpretations of law. Therefore, they
do not have the force and effect of law
and are not independently enforceable.
I. General Environmental Benefit
Claims
The final Guides caution marketers
not to make unqualified general
environmental benefit claims because
‘‘it is highly unlikely that marketers can
substantiate all reasonable
interpretations of these claims.’’
5
A new
example illustrates how marketers may
make general benefit claims through the
combination of images and text.
6
The Guides further provide that
marketers may be able to qualify general
environmental benefit claims to focus
consumers on the specific
environmental benefits that they can
substantiate.
7
In doing so, marketers
should use clear and prominent
qualifying language to convey that a
general environmental claim refers only
to a specific and limited environmental
benefit(s). In addition, this section
cautions marketers that explanations of
specific attributes, even when true and
substantiated, will not adequately
qualify general environmental
marketing claims if an advertisement’s
context implies other deceptive claims.
8
Moreover, the Guides advise marketers
not to imply that any specific benefit is
significant if it is, in fact, negligible.
9
Finally, the Guides state that if a
qualified general claim conveys that a
product is more environmentally
beneficial overall because of the
particular touted benefit, marketers
should analyze trade-offs resulting from
the benefit to substantiate this claim.
10
II. Carbon Offsets
The final Guides include a new
section on carbon offsets.
11
This section
advises marketers to have competent
and reliable scientific evidence to
support their carbon offset claims,
including using appropriate accounting
methods to ensure they are properly
quantifying emission reductions and not
selling those reductions more than once.
Additionally, the Guides advise
marketers to disclose if consumers’
offset purchases fund emission
reductions that will not occur for two
years or longer. Finally, the Guides
caution marketers not to advertise a
carbon offset if the activity that forms
the basis of the offset is already required
by law. More detailed guidance could
quickly become obsolete given the
rapidly changing nature of this market
and consumers’ minimal understanding
of such issues. Moreover, such guidance
might place the FTC in the
inappropriate role of setting
environmental policy.
III. Certifications and Seals of Approval
This new section provides that it is
deceptive to misrepresent that an item
or service has been endorsed or certified
by an independent third party.
12
It also
emphasizes that certifications and seals
may be endorsements covered by the
Commission’s Endorsement Guides.
13
Several examples illustrate application
of the Endorsement Guides’ advice that
marketers disclose a ‘‘material
connection’’ (i.e., a connection that
might materially affect the weight or
credibility of an endorsement).
14
For
instance, Example 8 clarifies that
marketers featuring certifications from
third-party certifiers need not disclose
their payment of a reasonable
certification fee if that is their only
connection to the certifier. In this
situation, there is no need for disclosure
because consumers likely expect that
certifiers charge a reasonable fee for
their services. As other examples
demonstrate, whether a material
connection exists depends on whether
the ties between the marketer and
certifier likely affect the weight or
credibility of the certification. If, for
example, an independent certifier
administers an industry trade
association certification program by
objectively applying a voluntary
consensus standard (i.e., a standard that
has been developed and maintained by
a voluntary consensus standard body),
then the connection between the
industry group and the marketer would
not likely be material.
15
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