UK

Relevant legislation or guidelines

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPUT) 2008. In particular:

• Regulation 5, which prohibits false and misleading commercial practices; and
• Regulation 6, which prohibits commercial practices serving to hide or obfuscate material information.

Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 – business to business marketing.

CAP Code and the BCAP Advertising Code. Guidance on misleading claims and social responsibility in advertising published in June 2022.

The Green Claims Code and accompanying Guidance.

Is there any upcoming relevant legislation or guidelines?

• The UK government is expected to introduce legislation in 2022 strengthening the CMA’s enforcements powers for consumer matters, including allowing the CMA to decide where consumer law has been infringed and to empower the CMA to issue turnover based or fixed monetary penalties. The CMA is expected to be able to impose fines on firms of up to 10% of worldwide annual turnover.

Who are the responsible authorities or bodies?

• The CMA (Competition Markets Authority), who shares consumer protection enforcement power with other bodies including the ASA.
• The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) administers the requirements for advertising in the UK Code of Non-Broadcast. Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing and the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising.
• The TSS (Trading Standards Services).

What are the enforcement measures?

• Currently, it is primarily the CMA and the Trading Standards Services can bring court proceedings. The ASA could also take action. The CMA enforces consumer protection legislation by seeking statutory undertakings or by applying for an enforcement order from the Court under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002.

Who can pursue infringements?

• The CMA or another enforcement body may seek an enforcement order from a court against a business.
• Businesses may also face legal action from customers , who can bring legal proceedings in response to a business' conduct or seek redress in the courts for certain breaches of consumer protection law.

What are the general rules of thumb for green claims?

• The Green Claims Code sets out 6 principles to follow when making sustainability claims in the UK:

1. Truthful and accurate.
2. Clear and unambiguous.
3. Not omit or hide important information.
4. Comparisons should be fair and meaningful.
5. The full life cycle should be considered.
6. Claims should be substantiated.

Do green claims need to be substantiated by evidence?

Yes. In order to ascertain whether the rules governing consumer protection have been breached, a court, the CMA or another enforcement body, may require the business to produce evidence to substantiate its claims.