How to deal with calls for tenders
Public procurement buyers cannot disregard or downgrade any non-eco-labelled business as this type of benchmark is still a voluntary initiative. Therefore, all businesses must be eligible to bid for public procurement contracts by demonstrating that their product specifications are at least equivalent to those listed by the public procurement buyer on the basis of an eco-label. This is why any statement referring to an eco-label in contract documents must be accompanied by the statement "or equivalent".
