Informing consumers about the environmental characteristics of consumer products is one of the major drivers for more sustainable consumption

Labelling / displaying products with environmental characteristics, a commitment forming part of the Grenelle Environment Forum Agreements and an action agreed as part of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development 2010-2013, constitutes an innovative and structuring approach. It aims to involve consumers, producers and retailers alike. In addition to the direct challenge of providing consumers with information in order to change their behaviour, this potential labelling also offers companies a means to achieve a competitive edge. It will provide them with an incentive to reduce their consumption of natural resources and carbon, to decrease their environmental impact and therefore facilitate a more robust response to fluctuations and increases in the cost of energy and raw materials resulting from the growing pressure placed on natural resources. As part of a raft of European and international initiatives, this measure also incorporates a very strong challenge in the area of standardisation : what universal measurement criteria can be used in the future and what information will therefore be provided to consumers which will be likely to influence their choices ?

In order to plan for the future and to meet the obligation to carry out an experimentation as defined under article 228 of Grenelle Act 2, the Ministry for Sustainable Development is launching a call for volunteers from organisations (companies or consortia of companies, trade unions, professional bodies, etc.) of all sizes and from every sector in order to create the broadest and most varied sample group possible to implement this experimentation on the basis of a requirements specification drawn up as a result of a series of meetings and consultations with different stakeholders (National Committee for Sustainable Development, Grenelle Environment Forum, ministries, the AFNOR ADEME platform [French standardisation body/French agency on environment and energy management] , the French National Consumer Council, etc.).

Principal characteristics of the national experimentation

A national experimentation which :

• is voluntary and open to all companies irrespective of size in all sectors, to unions, federations or other groups (producers and/or retailers) providing that the consumer products involved in the project are marketed in France,
• focuses on optimising conditions for implementing environmental labelling/display : availability to consumers of the environmental characteristics of products, full-scale testing in a variety of market sectors of methods for conveying the information right along the whole production and distribution chain, initial feedback on reactions from consumers, consumer protection or environmental protection organisations, etc.
• comprises a variety of voluntary projects with variable geometry.

A broad requirements specification involving projects :

• actually providing consumer information,
• operational from 1 July 2011, for at least 1 year,
• based on a multi-criteria approach (methodologies, product category rules and databases based on work carried out by the AFNOR ADEME platform and ADEME),
• forming the basis of an assessment and available for external evaluation.

Support for projects and experimentation follow-up :

• no specific or generalised financial support is available for each project, but participants will benefit from promotion and personalised support,
• the national experimentation will be led by the Minister for Sustainable Development (MEEDDM) in close collaboration with the DGCCRF (French office of fair trading, consumer affairs and fraud control),
• Monitoring of the national experimentation will be carried out in consultation with the different parties involved (National Committee for Sustainable Development and the Grenelle Environment Forum, ministries, the AFNOR ADEME platform, the National Consumer Council, etc.).

Timetable :

• 3 November to 31 December 2010 : call for applications
• January 2011 : selection of a sample group for projects
• January-June 2011 : finalisation of projects
• July 2011 : launch of the experimentation for a minimum duration of 1 year
• Second semester of 2012 onwards : evaluation of projects and of the national experimentation

Presentation pack, requirements specification and application form

• Presentation pack for the national experimentation (PDF - 185 Ko).
• Requirements specifications for projects taking part in the national experimentation (PDF - 117 Ko).
• Application form for the national experimentation (DOC - 290 Ko).

Contact

Contact specialists at the Ministry for Sustainable Development or ADEME at :

giving contact details and stating your query.

More information

Legal documentation :

• Article 54 of the Grenelle 1 Act (loi n° 2009-967 du 3 août 2009 de programmation relative à la mise en œuvre du Grenelle de l’environnement)
  "Consumers must have access to sincere, objective and comprehensive environmental information on the overall characteristics of the product / packaging couple, and to environment-friendly products at attractive prices. France will support the recognition of these requirements at European Union level.
  The mention of the environmental impacts of products and services complementing the display of prices will be gradually developed, including at European level, as well as the display/availability in shops of the products’ traceability and social conditions of production. The methodology associated with the assessment of these impacts will be discussed in consultation with the relevant stakeholders." (courtesy translation - the original French text of the law is the only official valid legal text)
• Article 228 of the Grenelle 2 Act (loi n° 2010-788 du 12 juillet 2010 portant engagement national pour l’environnement)
• Article L112-10 du code de la consommation
  From July 1st 2011, and after consultation with all stakeholders of the concerned sectors, an experimentation is conducted for a minimum period of one year. The objective of this experimentation is to inform the consumer, gradually and by any suitable method, of the equivalent carbon content of products and their packaging, and the consumption of natural resources or impact on natural environments that are attributable to these products throughout their life cycle.
  This experimentation is the subject of a report assessing the desirability of a generalization of this scheme, which is transmitted to Parliament.
  If need be, a State Council decree based on this assessment defines the terms of generalization of the scheme. It states, taking into account the specificity of very small firms to meet the objectives sought, the nature of the information, the information media, the respective responsibilities of economic actors, the procedure to record data and arrangements for access to scientific data on which this information is based, and the categories of products covered by this obligation.
  State Council decrees specify, on the basis of the rules defined and for each product category, the nature of the relevant information depending on their mode of distribution, the information media and the agreed terms of reference to use. (courtesy translation - the original French text of the law is the only official valid legal text)
  

Documents and information websites :

• Display of the environmental characteristics of products : 4-page summary
• The AFNOR ADEME platform
• Guide to reading the BP X30-323 methodological annexe
• Exemples of European level activities :
  
  • A summary of a recent study commissioned by the European Commission
  • Guidelines published by the European Food Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Round Table
• Overview of international initiatives :
  
  • OECD presentationat the WTO - 17 february 2010