International Standards for Eco-Labeling
Specifically, Green Seal meets the criteria of ISO 14020 and 14024, the standards for ecolabeling set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO); the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's criteria for third-party certifiers of environmentally preferable products; and the criteria for bona fide ecolabeling bodies of the Global Ecolabeling Network.
The EPA criteria specify that a legitimate third-party certifier must have:
- an open, public process that involves key stakeholders (businesses, environmental and consumer groups, states etc.) in developing its criteria or standards.
- award criteria, assumptions, methods and data used to evaluate the product or product categories that are transparent (i.e., they are publicly available, easily accessed and understandable to the lay person).
- a system of data verification and data quality.
- a peer review process (with representation of all stakeholders) for developing the standards or criteria.
- criteria which are developed based on a "systems" or life cycle approach (i.e., "cradle to grave").
- an outreach program to educate the consumer, which includes clear communications to consumers that provide key information concerning environmental impacts associated with the product.
- an established goal of updating standards or criteria as technology and scientific knowledge advance.
- authority to inspect the facility whose product is certified to ensure compliance with the standards or criteria.
- testing protocols for the products that are certified which ensure testing is conducted by a credible institution.
- access to obtaining the seal by small and medium sized companies (e.g., the cost of the seal is not so high as to prevent access by companies).
- compliance with the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims.
These criteria are replicated by the GEN admission criteria for ecolabeling bodies.
The ISO standards for ecolabeling were set by dozens of countries working throughout the 1990s to develop standards for sustainable environmental management. ISO 14020 enunciates a set of principles that must be followed by any practitioner of environmental labeling, while ISO 14024 specifies the procedures and principles that third-party certifiers, or ecolabelers, must follow. Among the most important of these relate to avoidance of financial conflict-of-interest, use of sound scientific methods and accepted test procedures, and openness and transparency in the setting of standards. Green Seal participated as an expert in the development of these standards, and it substantially complies with the standards in respect to both their principles and their procedures.
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