The US Federal Trade Commission has introduced an updated version of its ‘Green Guides’ for environmental marketing claims. Companies that make product-related claims in association with products in the US marketplace that do not conform to the guides risk being charged with misleading advertising. Many companies are not aware that environmental claims on products are among the most highly regulated of advertising claims in both Canada and the US.

GallonDaily expects that Canada’s guidance on environmental labeling could be updated at some point in the future to match the US Guides. Even without Canadian matching of the US claims, GallonDaily advises Canadian companies to adhere to the US guidance in case Canadian product finds its way into the United States.

A review of the new US Green Guides will be published in the next issue of Gallon Environment Letter, due to be published next week. Subscription information, including the opportunity for a free sample subscription, is available at http://www.cialgroup.com/subscription.htm  This issue of gallon Environment Letter will also be published at http://www.cialgroup.com/galloncurrent.htm by the end of October 2012.

The new FTC Green Guides are available at http://ftc.gov/opa/2012/10/greenguides.shtm