'Green' ad claims must be better defined, regulator says
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 | 9:40 AM ET
CBC News
Canada's Competition Bureau plans to publish guidelines defining green terms like "recyclable" in response to consumer complaints, according to a report.
The regulator, along with the Canadian Standards Association, will create guidelines for companies using such terms, and require the companies to stand behind their claims, the Globe and Mail reported Tuesday.
Under the guidelines, companies will be restricted from using vague terms like "non-toxic" and "contains recycled materials," without saying how much. And they won't be able to say a product is “free” of a chemical unless the product once contained it, and now doesn't.
The bureau is worried by an increase in the number of claims that certain products have environmental benefits, spokeswoman Pamela Wong said.
However, the bureau will only take action against an advertiser if consumers complain, she said.
Since the clothing manufacturer Lululemon removed unsubstantiated health claims about certain clothing last November, “we have been seeing more usage in the industry of these kinds of eco-friendly environmental claims,” Wong said.
Lululemon removed claims that its VitaSea clothing line contained seaweed fibre, "which releases marine amino acids, minerals and vitamins into the skin upon contact with moisture," after the bureau issued an order.
The bureau acted two days after the New York Times commissioned a laboratory to test the content of the clothing. The lab said it couldn't rule out the presence of seaweed in the Lululemon clothing, but also couldn't prove the claim.
Advertising Standards Canada, a self-regulatory body, recently reported that the bureau was working with the standards association on a "best practices guide" for environmental ads.
