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Advanced searchHow do businesses obtain an eco-label for their product or service?
Any business seeking to obtain an eco-label must produce products that comply with the relevant eco-label requirements. Once the business's products or services have been certified conform by an independent body, they will be authorised to feature the distinctive eco-label logo, against payment of an annual use rights fee.
France has two eco-labels, both delivered by AFNOR Certification:
- the French eco-label, the "NF Environnement" mark
- and the EU Eco-label,
created in 1991 and 1992 respectively.
The steps to follow to obtain an eco-label:
1 - Certification application
• Identify the category that corresponds to your product or service and download the guideline.
• Contact AFNOR Certification, the certifying body. They will assess your needs and provide you with the certification guideline and a tariff listing.
• To obtain certification, you will have to provide all the necessary information, together with the results of the required tests proving that your product or service is conform with both the ecological criteria and fitness-for-use criteria.
2 - Assessing your application
• AFNOR Certification will assess your application, and check your conformity with the ecological and fitness-for-use criteria required by the certification guideline. Your company will be audited on-site in order to check your quality system and validate your various signed declarations.
3 - Awarding an eco-label
• If your product or service meets the ecological and fitness-for-use requirements of the relevant specified guideline, AFNOR Certification will grant you the right to use the mark for your product or service. This means that you will be able to feature the brand logo on your product or service, on its packaging, or on the instruction leaflet accompanying the product or service.
4 - Regular follow-up
• In order to guarantee consumers or users of your certified products or services that you continue to conform with the requirements of the "NF Environnement" or EU Eco-label marking schemes, AFNOR Certification will collect samples in your stores or factory workshops for product testing; it will also conduct regular factory workshop audits.
5 - Promoting your efforts
• Once you have been awarded an eco-label, AFNOR Certification will send you the access codes for your customer area on our website. You can optimise communications with customers, staff and the press using the tools provided in your own "private" area.
- Are eco-label requirements more stringent than current regulations?
- How can we find our way around the various environmental labels?
- Are eco-labelled products more expensive than non-eco-labelled products?
- How much does it cost a business to obtain an eco-label?
- What is the difference between standard ISO 14001 and an eco-label?
- How do businesses obtain an eco-label for their product or service?
- Do eco-labels equal standards?
