[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR260.5]

[Page 195]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
                   CHAPTER I--FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
 
PART 260--GUIDES FOR THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING CLAIMS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 260.5  Interpretation and substantiation of environmental marketing claims.

    Section 5 of the FTC Act makes unlawful deceptive acts and practices 
in or affecting commerce. The Commission's criteria for determining 
whether an express or implied claim has been made are enunciated in the 
Commission's Policy Statement on Deception. \1\ In addition, any party 
making an express or implied claim that presents an objective assertion 
about the environmental attribute of a product, package or service must, 
at the time the claim is made, possess and rely upon a reasonable basis 
substantiating the claim. A reasonable basis consists of competent and 
reliable evidence. In the context of environmental marketing claims, 
such substantiation will often require competent and reliable scientific 
evidence, defined as tests, analyses, research, studies or other 
evidence based on the expertise of professionals in the relevant area, 
conducted and evaluated in an objective manner by persons qualified to 
do so, using procedures generally accepted in the profession to yield 
accurate and reliable results. Further guidance on the reasonable basis 
standard is set forth in the Commission's 1983 Policy Statement on the 
Advertising Substantiation Doctrine. 49 FR 30999 (1984); appended to 
Thompson Medical Co., 104 F.T.C. 648 (1984). The Commission has also 
taken action in a number of cases involving alleged deceptive or 
unsubstantiated environmental advertising claims. A current list of 
environmental marketing cases and/or copies of individual cases can be 
obtained by calling the FTC Consumer Response Center at (202) 326-2222.
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    \1\ Cliffdale Associates, Inc., 103 F.T.C. 110, at 176, 176 n.7, 
n.8, Appendix, reprinting letter dated Oct. 14, 1983, from the 
Commission to The Honorable John D. Dingell, Chairman, Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives (1984) (``Deception 
Statement'').

[63 FR 24248, May 1, 1998]