The Competition and Markets Authority in the UK has launched investigations regarding 3 famous fashion brands claiming to sell “green” products.
The CMA investigation aims to clarify if the fashion firms’ eco-friendly and sustainability claims claims are misleading their customers or not.
CMA has started to focus on the fashion sector in the UK at the beginning of this year, as the industry’s customers spend at least £54 billion every year. Part of this money goes on “green” products and officials are concerned that the companies may use misleading eco-friendly claims for their clothing, shoes and accessories lines. For example, CMA has discovered little to no information on the provenance of the recycled materials used in new clothing.
The recently launched CMA investigation into ASOS, Boohoo and George by Asda will feature aspects such as marketing statements, language used for the campaigns, the criteria used for the choosing of the green collections, as well as lack of information related to materials’ provenance and sustainability concept, as the CMA has also recently published its Green Claims Code back in September 2021.
Sarah Cardell, interim Chief Executive of the CMA, commented:
“People who want to ‘buy green’ should be able to do so confident that they aren’t being misled. Eco-friendly and sustainable products can play a role in tackling climate change, but only if they are genuine.
“We’ll be scrutinising green claims from ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda to see if they stack up. Should we find these companies are using misleading eco claims, we won’t hesitate to take enforcement action – through the courts if necessary.
“This is just the start of our work in this sector and all fashion companies should take note: look at your own practices and make sure they are in line with the law.”
The possible outcomes following the investigations include urging the companies to change current operations, taking them to court or discharging the case with no further consequences.
CMA also aims to investigate other sectors using misleading environmental claims for their products.
Source: gov.uk
