Product Labels

• Introduction
• Buildings
• Electronic Appliances & Energy Labels
• Fair Trade & Child Labour
• Food Labels
• Paper & Wood Labels
• Environmental Impact Labels
• Packaging Labels
• Further Information

Introduction

Consumer choice is an important issue, and labelling is a means by which consumers can make an informed choice when purchasing products.

Many different logos, labelling and certification schemes have been devised by individual trading nations, the European Union, non-governmental organisations and industry groups, such as paper manufacturers.

As a means of identifying products, services or practices that meet some specific criteria, they are useful, but their abundance can be confusing and the criteria and assessment standards are not always clear. For example, this has been a particular problem of child labour projects, where there can be problems with assessment of production sites.

When deciding whether a label is truly meaningful, consider the organisation accrediting the system, and whether the system offers a means for you to find out about it. Large, well reputed organisations are more likely to be stringent in their labelling standards and operate a transparent system.

The following sections give information on some of the labels which can be found on products. This is not an exhaustive list, but covers many of the most commonly found labels. If you find a label that is not covered in these pages, please contact us and we will try to find out about it for you.

The Oxfordshire Trading Standards Service aims to protect the interests of Oxfordshire consumers and businesses, and can be contacted via their web-page with relevant queries.

Buildings

BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is BRE's environmental labelling scheme for buildings, applicable to offices, superstores and housing. It rates a building against a series of environmental impacts and provides visible certifiable evidence of the performance of the building.

Electronic Appliances & Energy Labels

Energy Efficiency A Government backed initiative run by the Energy Saving Trust aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of energy efficient products and services that will save you money, energy and help the environment.

The European energy label
Under a European scheme, manufacturers and retailers must tell you about the energy efficiency of many electrical appliances, such as washing machines, dishwashers and fridges. It works using a simple scale. Products are rated from 'A' to 'G', with 'A' being the most efficient and 'G' being the least efficient. By choosing a more efficient product, you'll not only be 'doing your bit' but you'll be saving money on electricity bills too.

The Energy Star label This is a joint European Union and USA initiative to identify and promote energy efficient office equipment. It is a voluntary scheme which, within the European Union, will initially cover personal computers, monitors, fax machines, scanners, photocopiers and printers available on the market.

EU WEEE recycling label
WEEE equipment that can be recycled will be labelled with a crossed out wheelie bin, but this will not come into practise until the EU legislation is in place.

Fair Trade & Child Labour

Fairtrade Fair Trade Mark initiatives are in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In addition to tea, the products currently being sold under these labels include coffee, honey, chocolate products, cocoa, sugar, and bananas. Most fair trade labelling organizations are composed of coalitions of NGOs, including consumer, environmental, and religious groups, as well as trade union associations.

RUGMARK This private, voluntary certification program provides market-driven incentives for Indian carpet manufacturers to produce without child labour. While RUGMARK originated in India, today it operates as an international trademark and certification program for carpets made according to certain criteria.

The Kaleen Label The Kaleen 107 labelling program was established in India by the Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC), a quasi-governmental body which oversees the mandatory registration of all Indian carpet exporters and issues export licenses. Each label has two numbers denoting the fiscal year and a sequential serial number referring solely to the sequence in which the label was issued. Not totally regulated as inspection has proved difficult.

Care & Fair - Carpet Trade Against Child Labor Its purpose is to support the economic interests and image of the carpet importers and retailers by conducting public relations work and supporting projects to create better living conditions for children in carpet-producing areas. Care & Fair is a company certification program rather than a product-labelling initiative. Care & Fair/Europe now has nearly 600 members, including carpet and furniture retailers, carpet importers, and wholesalers and covers the UK as well as other countries.

STEP Foundation for fair conditions in carpet production and carpet trade. The program targets work and health conditions of all carpet workers, adults as well as children. Established in Switzerland. Unlike RUGMARK and Kaleen, the STEP program provides a label to companies, not individual carpets. STEP standards encompass a broad range of labour and environmental issues; not solely child labour.

TransFair USA The standards aim to ensure that the farmers receive a fair price for their product. At the present time, TransFair USA (TFUSA) has been certifying coffee and in 2002, began certifying tea. To bear the label, coffee must be grown by small farmers who belong to cooperatives and who are paid a fair minimum price.

Food Labels

Soil Association The Soil Association is an independent UK organisation, working specifically on organic food and farming. It uses very strict criteria in assessment for the organic logo. The criteria include use of chemicals and animal welfare. These foods are also GM free.

Red Tractor This is a scheme managed by "Assured Food Standards", with input from various parts of the UK agri-food industry, including the National Farmers Union and several other assurance schemes. The standards cover all aspects of production on the farm from looking after the countryside to food hygiene and safety, what animals are fed and how they are cared for. Although it is UK-focussed, due to EU regulations the symbol can also cover produce from other EU countries that have fulfilled the criteria.

Marine Stewardship Council Label This label indicates sustainable fish products. A full list of products and suppliers is available on their web site. The

Paper & Wood Labels

National Association of Paper Merchants (NAPM)
They have an approved recycled paper mark which indicates that the product contains a minimum 75% of post-mill waste.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) The FSC is an international non-governmental organisation that has prepared a set of standards and principles of forest management. Criteria include: recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and workers; conservation of biodiversity including water and soil, maintenance of the ecological functions of the forest; monitoring of the forest's yield and condition, social impacts; conservation of primary forests and sites of major environmental, social or cultural significance; and adherence to management principles for plantations which reduce pressure on natural forests. Several organisations (eg the Soil Association and Proforest) are accredited to assess forests and the supply chain of products, and permit use of the logo.

The WWF 1995+ Group, a separate but related initiative set up in 1991, is a partnership between WWF-UK and 90 major UK companies committed to buying timber and wood products independently certified by schemes such as FSC. Info from Catherine Graham, Tel 01483 419278, WWF UK, Branksome House, Filmer Grove, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1AB, Email: cgraham@wwfnet.org.

HMSO Register of Recycled Paper & Paper Products
Point awarding system according to type and percentage of waste used, with maximum score of 100 representing 100% post consumer waste fibre content. Mill waste (virgin fibre trimmings etc) scores 50.

Environmental Impact Labels

European Eco-Label Awarded to products and services with reduced environmental impacts. The main environment friendly label in the EU.

Further Information

The Global Ecolabelling Network
The Global Ecolabelling Network - GEN - is a non-profit making association, of ecolabelling organizations from around the world, to improve and develop the ecolabelling of products and services world-wide. These ecolabelling organizations set criteria for and certify products and services with lower environmental burdens and impacts than comparable products with the same function.

The Ecolabelling Team
An explanation of how the ecolabelling scheme is run by DEFRA in the UK.

Eco-Labels
Exhaustive directory of environmental labels used in the US, with the associated claims. Some of these labels are international.

US Department of Labour, Review "By the Sweat and Toil of Children"
Review of child labour across the world in rug weaving, footwear, footballs, and tea. Provides information on the labelling schemes and their achievements. (1997)

Fair Trade Federation
An association of fair trade wholesalers, retailers, and producers whose members are
committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide.

The Waste Book - Environmental Labels
Directory of various label and organisations with labels. Not comprehensive.


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