For the first time in ten years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is now reviewing its Guidelines for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (the ‘Green Guides’).
The FTC is looking for industry feedback on the Guides, which are intended to assist marketers in determining whether environmental statements will deceive consumers.
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) supported the review of the Green Guides and provided comments to the FTC in support of it.
According to survey data cited by the AAFA, customers are interested in businesses’ sustainability initiatives and want to make purchases that have the least possible environmental impact. However, as businesses attempt to publicise their efforts to lessen their environmental effect, accusations that these statements are misleading consumers, such as “greenwashing,” have grown, the report argues.
Because of this, some businesses have decided to withhold more information about their sustainability initiatives and their comprehension of the environmental effects of their products in order to avoid being accused of greenwashing. The AAFA continues, “This new phenomenon—also known as ‘greenhushing’—is annoying for customers and deceptive in and of itself.
The US industry group said it anticipates new recommendations and thinks the FTC’s Green Guides are “indeed needed.”
However, the AAFA highlights concerns about the veracity of claims, shows interest in procedures to guarantee adherence to the laws, and requests modifications to labelling regulations that would make it easier to make verifiable claims.
The AAFA also believes that as the Guides are being reviewed, more chances will arise for interaction with the FTC and that future Guide updates will occur more often. Discussions on the most recent research, suitable vocabulary, and best practises are all developing quickly in a number of fields.
The AAFA recommends that in order to strengthen the Guides, specific requirements should be made for “sustainable” and other ambiguous statements, as well as for recycling and compostable claims and claims relating to climate change. It also states that issues with claim substantiation and responsibility for non-compliance must be addressed.
