Scope

The Proposal aims to regulate claims and labels which explicitly or implicitly gives the impression that a product or a business has a positive, less negative or no impact on the environment. It also aims to regulate claims and labels related to improvements of the product or business over time, in terms of environmental impact.

The initiative complements Directive 2024/825 which amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC), which is meant to empower consumers for the green transition.

Relevance

The Proposal will impose further regulations on traders offering their products and business to consumers. Traders should adopt a life-cycle perspective on the goods and services offered to consumers, and not only assess whether or not the production method is environmentally friendly. The proposal should be seen in connection with the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.

Implementation in Norway will likely result in an amendment to the Norwegian Marketing Act or through the adoption of new national legislation.

Key obligations

The Proposal sets out obligations on traders to properly substantiate environmental claims. Traders must be able to verify assessments behind claims and labels before the product or business is presented to the consumers. This entails a so-called “ex-ante assessment”, which is a novelty compared to the current regulations found in the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.

As per the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, it is up to the member states’ consumer protection authorities to prove that environmental claims are false – partially or wholly. This burden of proof will, according to the proposal, be shifted to the traders using such claims to advertise their products or business. Further, the proposal states that an independent third party will have to verify the documentation and communication of environmental claims before such claims can be directed towards the consumers.