State supervision. Ungrounded use of the label indicating an ecological characteristic or superiority violates the requirement of Article 151 of the Law of Ukraine "On Protection from Unfair Competition" (dissemination of misleading information). In case of violation, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine imposes a fine up to 5% of the annual income for the year preceding the year in which the violation was found.

The dissemination of misleading information is a notification by the business entity, either directly or through another person, to one or several individuals or an uncertain number of persons, including in advertising, incomplete, inaccurate, false information, in particular due to the method of their disclosure, failure to mention individual facts or unclear formulations that have influenced or may affect the intentions of these persons for the purchase (ordering) or sale (supply, performance, provision) of the goods, works, and services of this entity.

Misleading information includes, in particular, the information that:

  • Contain incomplete, inaccurate or false data about the origin of the goods, manufacturer, seller, method of production, source and method of purchase, sale, quantity, consumer properties, quality, completeness, suitability for use, standards, characteristics, characteristics of sales of goods, works, services, the price and discounts on them, as well as the essential terms of the contract;
  • Contain incomplete, inaccurate or false data about the financial condition or economic activity of the entity;
  • Attribute powers and rights that they do not have or relationships that do not exist;
  • Contain references to the volumes of production, purchase, sale or supply of goods, the performance of works, the provision of services that did not actually exist on the day of the dissemination of information.

Law of Ukraine "On Protection from Unfair Competition"

The purpose of disseminating information about misleading environmental characteristics or benefits is to obtain an unjustified advantage in competition. False and uncertain allegations include the unjustified use of the wording such as eco, ecological, ecologically clean, environmentally safe, green, environmentally friendly, natural, etc.

Usually, the way of distributing environmental declarations is advertising in the mass media, on leaflets, outdoor advertising, television, radio, etc. The list of sources of dissemination of misleading information is not set by the legislator, and therefore it can be any media.

Public monitoring of the market and informing consumers. Several public media-sponsored initiatives enable the consumer to learn more about the environmental aspects of consumption and the importance of various labels.

The relevant information can be found on the consumer portal www.gpp.in.ua. Also, here you can find out about the results of independent expertise and pseudo-environmental products that are included in the "black list" of unscrupulous producers.