The European Commission submitted a document in July last year proposing a review of environmental labeling guidelines, and the European Parliament and the Council are reviewing the relevant document. On February 17 this year, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee issued a report advocating the wider adoption of EU environmental labels. The report points out that the EU should simplify the procedures for issuing environmental labels, reduce issuance costs, and make it easier for companies of different sizes to apply for labels. It also welcomes the European Commission's suggestions to expand the scope of applicable products.
The European Union launched an environmental labeling scheme in 1992 to issue environmental labels to products that help improve the environment. The EU revised the plan in 2000. According to Regulation No. 1980/2000, the environmental labeling scheme is voluntary and does not aim to differentiate EU products from foreign products. According to regulations, each product category must meet certain ecological standards (such as impact on climate change, energy and resource consumption, and waste recycling, etc.) before being issued an environmental label. The goal of ecological standards is that only products and services that have minimal impact on the environment during their lifetime are eligible for environmental labels.
The European Commission launched a review on July 16 last year, hoping to improve the effectiveness and market influence of the environmental labeling regulations by expanding the categories of eligible products and increasing the number of environmentally labeled products and services provided to consumers, thereby educating consumers to buy more environmentally friendly products. products.
Products and services that have been awarded an environmental label are equipped with a flower-shaped logo for easy identification by consumers. To date, more than 3,000 products have been awarded environmental labels. Products covered by the eco-labelling scheme include paper, textiles, shoes, large household appliances (such as dishwashers, refrigerators and washing machines), light bulbs, vacuum cleaners, furniture, televisions and dishwashing detergents.
EU legislation does not require Hong Kong exporters dealing in the above products to apply for environmental labels. However, the benefit of environmental labels is to make consumers understand that products with labels are more environmentally friendly, thereby encouraging them to purchase the products in question.
The report of the European Parliament's Environment Committee agrees with the European Commission's view that the scope of application of environmental labels should be expanded. However, the Environment Committee opposes the European Commission's proposal to apply labels to processed food, fishery and aquaculture products, and believes that the possibility of establishing reliable ecological standards for food and beverages should be carefully studied.
Members of the Environment Committee also stated that environmental labels should not be issued to toxic or carcinogenic products and substances that are of high concern, but asked the European Commission to study whether the factor of "reduction in animal testing" can be included as another factor in issuing environmental labels to product categories. criteria.
The Environment Committee has asked the European Commission and member states to provide sufficient funds for environmental labeling schemes, and hopes to increase the use of labels by increasing the visibility of environmental labels and encouraging the public to purchase environmentally labeled products.
The EU is studying a number of product categories to decide whether to include them in the scope of environmental labelling, including water heaters, electric motors, computers, imaging equipment, room air conditioners, multi-function set-top boxes and clothes dryers. The EU is also developing environmental labeling guidelines for products such as wooden furniture, printing paper and heat pumps, and revising environmental standards for flooring materials, paints and varnishes, textiles and mattresses. For detailed information on environmentally friendly label products and manufacturers authorized to use the label, please refer to the following website:http://www.eco-label.com/default.htm.
- Reference source: HKTDC 2009-03
