§ Mr. GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he has taken to ensure that products tested on animals are not able to secure an eco-label. [158697]
§ Mr. MeacherThe only eco-labelling scheme administered in this country by the Secretary of State is the European Union eco-label. A company wishing to obtain a licence to use that label must ensure that its product satisfies the technical criteria applying to that type80W of product. The criteria are agreed between the member states, following consultation with interested parties, and then adopted and published by the European Commission. The regulation governing the scheme requires that the technical criteria relate only to the environmental impacts of the type of product concerned and its functional fitness for use; and, as the scheme must operate consistently across the single market, no additional requirements for the licensing of the label may be imposed at a national level. However, the scheme must also operate without prejudice to other requirements of EU or national law on relevant product issues, which may include animal testing, and which determine which products may actually be placed on the market.