International Regulation and Harmonization of Eco-Label Programs for Goods and Services

Given both trade globalization and the growing media coverage of the deterioration of natural resources and the ozone layer, many citizens have become more demanding as consumers when it comes to the environmental quality of the products they purchase. In this context, the implementation of adequate labeling may become both a major competitive issue in the marketplace and a means of promoting sustainable development that will allow for the inclusion of environmental considerations in production processes and in individuals' behavior and choices. Designed to inform both private and public consumers of a product's environmental performance as compared to other products in the same category, the eco-label is an excellent tool for the implementation of this new development paradigm. Its goal is to use markets to meet environmental goals. Currently, the eco-label is the result of a voluntary step taken by manufacturers who takes it upon themselves to declare that their products are ecologically sound through the use of various seals or phrases such as “nitrate free,” “ozone layer friendly,” “biodegradable,” etc.). Alternatively, the manufacturer may ask an independent organization for the right to use an eco-label by following a preset procedure and complying with pre-established criteria. Since the end of the 1980s, many countries have set up ecological certification and eco-labeling programs, including the European eco-label, the Blue Angel eco-label in Germany, the Green Seal in the U S, and the NF eco-label in France, the Eco-mark in Japan, and the Eco-logo in Canada. For the past ten years, the eco-label has drawn the interest of public authorities in Western countries. Over the same decade, Europeans have gained a level of expertise that today allows them to assume an international leadership role in the field of eco-labeling. In this context, several European jurists and economists have therefore become interested in the conditions linked to the development of this new tool for regulating production. Their studies show that the creation of a national policy for ecological labeling must be based on recognized standards, whether private or prescribed, so that the awarding of an eco-label can be based on objective criteria. Within the framework of trade liberalization, the development of such eco-label programs must be carried out while, at the same time, an effort must be made to avoid creating obstacles to international trade. Yet very little research has been devoted to the rules of international law that apply to this topic despite the fact that this question is central to the reflection that must be undertaken on the development of ecological labeling as a sustainable development tool. Our paper sets out to answer this question and to study the impact the International Standards Organization's (ISO) 14000 series of standards has had on the harmonization of national eco-labeling policies. Given the impact of international legal standards on the development of the eco-label as a sustainable development tool, there is a need to make an in-depth analysis of the conditions for national eco-labeling policy harmonization at the international level.

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