Protection against misleading advertising claims – PFI certification marks comply with EMPCO standards

Ab dem 27. September 2026 tritt die EmpCo-Richtlinie (EU) 2024/825 in Kraft. Die Richtlinie “Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition”, kurz EmpCo will Verbraucherinnen und Verbraucher vor irreführenden Werbeaussagen schützen. Bei Begriffen wie „klimaneutral“, „energieeffizient“ oder „umweltschonend“ ist nicht immer erkennbar, welche Umweltleistung hinter einem Produkt oder einer Dienstleistung steckt.

The EmpCo policy prohibits, amongst other things:

• General environmental claims without supporting evidence (e.g. ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘energy-efficient’, ‘biodegradable’)
• Sustainability labels that are not based on a certification scheme or are not issued by public authorities
• Claims regarding the environmental impact of the entire product or company, even though these apply only to individual components
• Claims regarding neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse gas emissions that are based exclusively on offsetting measures (e.g. ‘climate-neutral’, ‘climate-friendly’, ‘CO₂-neutral’)

The EmpCo Directive applies to all companies that sell or advertise products or services in the EU. In future, environmental claims must be transparent, verifiable and substantiated. Anyone failing to comply with these requirements risks receiving warnings and fines.

Companies should review their environmental claims at an early stage, document supporting evidence and verify their sustainability labels. The PFI certification marks are all EMPCO-compliant and can assist you in this process. Our sustainability labels are subject to minimum requirements regarding transparency and credibility, including objective monitoring of compliance with the system’s requirements.

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PFI certifications fulfill the EmpCo requirements

The sustainability and quality labels awarded by PFI fully comply with the requirements of the EmpCo guidelines.
All certifications are issued by a scheme operator, whose competence, independence and neutrality are based on:

• international
• EU
• or national standards and procedures

demonstrably ensured.

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PFI‑Labels

The following PFI labels document tested and reliable product properties:

Your added value with PFI Test marks:

• document verifiable environmental performance
• fulfil your legal duties of care
• Strengthen the credibility of your sustainability statements.
• and are prepared for the EmpCo Directive at an early stage

Document verifiable environmental performance and due diligence – together with us.

Do you have any questions? Contact us!