Ecolabel Introduction

Ecolabels continue to be popular marketing tools for manufacturers and service providers who focus on the environmental consumer niche.

Technically, an ecolabel implies the endorsement of the good or service in question by an independent third party, after the third party has used a specific set of environment criteria to test it. The types of testing done on any product are specific to the product's life-cycle.

For example, the Dolphin Safe label pictured in the box, a common ecolabel, indicates that the tuna in the can was caught using fishing methods that follow the current U.S. law on dolphin protection.

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picture of the dolphin safe ecolabel

The type of claim made by the dolphin-safe label is a limited life cycle product endorsement.

Consider, for example, that the label neglects to address other potential environmental aspects of tuna consumption such as

Consumers confusion with ecolabels also continues partly because there is no easy way to interpret a label without a handy reference guide.

After a few false starts, the International Standards Organization (ISO) published a system for organizing the process.

In 1999 the ISO defined three different types of environment labels:

Type I - Ecolabels, independently tested endorsements of a product based on specific criteria
Type II - self-declarations about a product
Type III - Third party report on a product. The Audubon Seafood Wallet Card is a good example. It provides a list of fish species arranged in enjoy, be careful and avoid categories, as a tool for advising members about seafood purchases.

Ecolabels refers to Type I labels which use an independent third party sponsor, either a government or non-government entity.

The Global Ecolabelling Network monitors the design and implementation of eco-labeling programs that follow ISO standards in states around the world.

One group of states, the European Union (EU), has an extensive ecolabel program that uses a flower symbol as its brand. The program covers a variety of consumer products for the home, office and garden.

Competent bodies are hired for research, standard setting and product testing.

In the laundry detergent category, for example, a group from Denmark was authorized by the EU to study the pollution effects associated with different brands. The research group examined the types of chemical residues left by different detergent brands and determined how much pollution such as sewer sludge is, or would be, created by consumers using them. After conducting the research, the body decides on an appropriate standard for the flower label.

Laundry detergent manufacturers can then decide whether to apply for flower labels by submitting their products for testing.

While ecolabels receive support from many states and environment groups around the world, they also have their detractors.

Ecolabel critics often point to their potential use as non-tariff barriers to trade. The Tuna-Dolphin case exemplifies the point, including a World Trade Organization ruling that U.S. laws banning the importation of tuna caught using techniques that differed from U.S. practices, violated international trade law.

Ecolabelling as practiced by northern industrialized states, receives little or no participation from Latin American or African states. Generally developing states with less practice in ecolabelling hesitate to embrace it.

As this FAO document on Product Certification and Ecolabelling for Fisheries Sustainability points out, developing states are concerned about their lack of participation in creating the standards and the costs of implementing those already in place.

Ecolabel Introduction