November 20, 2013 PUBLIC COMMENTS SOUGHT:

Draft Guidelines for Product Environmental Performance Standards & Ecolabels for Voluntary Use in Federal Procurement

DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCT ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS & ECOLABELS

# Guideline Name Guideline B/L Source of Guideline Other References

Section I: Guidelines for the Process for Developing Standards

1 Open Participation Reasonable efforts were made to ensure participation was open to all directly and materially affected 

persons. There was no undue financial barrier for participation.

B ANSI Essential 

Requirements

ISO 14024; ISO 14020; 

ISO/ IEC Guide 59;

IFAN 1

2 Voting Open Voting membership on decision-making body was not conditional upon membership in any organization. L ANSI Essential 

Requirements 

IFAN; WTO TBT Annex 

3 & Decision G/TBT/9

3 Reasonable Voting 

Qualifications

Voting membership on decision-making body was not unreasonably restricted on basis of technical 

qualifications or other such requirements. 

B ANSI Essential 

Requirements 

IFAN; WTO TBT Annex 

3 & Decision G/TBT/9

4 Progress/Updates 

are Communicated

Timely and adequate notice of standards activity was announced in suitable media as appropriate to 

demonstrate the opportunity for participation by all directly and materially affected persons.

B ANSI Essential 

Requirements 

ISO/IEC Guide 59; 

WTO TBT Annex 3

5 Transparent The process was transparent through significant stages of the standard's development and operation.2B ISO 14024 ANSI Essential 

Requirements; ISO 

14020; ISO/IEC Guide 

59; WTO TBT Annex 3 

& Decision G/TBT/9

6 Consideration of All 

Viewpoints

The standards development process included fair and equitable consideration of all viewpoints. B ANSI Essential 

Requirements

IAF; IFAN; ISO 14020; 

ISO 14024

7 Diversity of 

Interests

Participation from diverse interest categories was actively sought with the objective of achieving balance so 

that no single interest category constitutes a majority of the membership of the decision-making body.3

B ANSI Essential 

Requirements

IAF; IFAN

8 No Funding 

Conflicts

Funding sources for standards development did not create conflicts of interest. B ISO 14024 ISO/IEC Guide 59; 

IFAN

9 Consensus Effort Reasonable efforts were made to achieve consensus throughout the process; prompt consideration was 

given to all views, and evidence of consensus4reached was documented.

B ISO 14024 ANSI Essential 

Requirements; IFAN;

WTO TBT Annex 3 & 

Decision G/TBT/9

10 Effort to Resolve 

Objections

An effort to resolve all objections was made in a fair and unbiased way. Commenters were informed of the 

resolution of their comments and advised of their right to appeal.

B ANSI Essential 

Requirements

ISO 14020; ISO 14024; 

WTO TBT Annex 3 & 

Decision G/TBT/9

11 Appeals Mechanism Written procedures contain an appeals mechanism for the prompt and impartial handling of procedural 

complaints regarding any action or inaction of the decision-making body. 

B ANSI Essential 

Requirements

ISO/IEC Guide 59; 

IFAN

12 Appeals Open Appeals procedures provide for participation by all parties concerned without imposing an undue financial 

or administrative burden on them.

B ANSI Essential 

Requirements

13 Good-faith on 

Conflicts

A standards developing organization shall make a good-faith effort to resolve potential conflicts with the 

requirements of other existing standards and to coordinate standardization activities.

B ANSI Essential 

Requirements

ISO 14020; ISO 14024;; 

IFAN; WTO TBT Annex 

3 & Decision G/TBT/9

14 Standards Updated Standards are revised or reaffirmed every five years at minimum. B ANSI Essential 

Requirements

ISO 14020; ISO 14024; 

IFAN

Section II: Guidelines for the Environmental Effectiveness of the Standards

1 Functional 

Performance

Final product standards require that the product’s functional performance is consistent with comparable 

conventional products or standard industry test methods. 

B FAR 23.103 Sustainable 

acquisitions: (c) The 

required products in 

ISO 14024
DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCT ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS & ECOLABELS

# Guideline Name Guideline B/L Source of Guideline Other References

the contract actions

2 Align with Relevant 

Standards

To avoid duplication or confusion in the marketplace, standards for green products align with relevant 

existing standards, including building upon existing, federal, regional, national, and international standards 

where relevant to the scope and goals of the standard.

B ISO 14024; WTO TBT 

Annex 3

3 Measurability The product environmental performance criteria are measurable. B ISO 14024

4 Credible Scientific 

Reasoning

The criteria reflect a credible scientific reasoning process and reference, incorporate or are based on the 

best available science.

B ISO 14024 

5 Performance-Based The criteria are performance-based when such criteria may reasonably be used in lieu of prescriptive 

criteria.

L OMB A-119

6 Lifecycle Stages The standard’s developer considered the full range of product life cycle stages. Exclusion of a significant 

lifecycle stage is explained in the standard or other appropriate, publicly available documentation. 6

L ISO 14024

7 Multiple 

Environmental 

Attributes

Standards developers considered the full range of environmental attributes. Exclusion of a significant 

environmental attribute is explained in the standard or other appropriate, publicly available 

documentation.7

L ISO 14024

8 Weighting 

Methodologies

If a standard uses methodologies to weight and aggregate multiple attributes into a single score, those 

methodologies are well-documented in the standard. 

B

9 Hotspots Where there are certain lifecycle stages or attributes that dominate the opportunity for environmental 

improvement, those significant attributes (or "hotspots") are clearly defined and given greater emphasis in 

differentiating environmental performance. If additional attributes are addressed, the standard clearly 

identifies any known trade-offs between attributes.8

B ISO 14024; FTC

10 Significant 

Measurable 

Difference

Product environmental criteria differentiate products from others in the product category, based on a 

significant measurable difference in environmental impact for the environmental attribute(s) for which the 

product makes a claim. 

B ISO 14024 FTC

11 Intrinsic Hazards Product environmental criteria focus on the intrinsic hazards of chemicals, and require safer substitutes to 

the extent possible, considering existing data and availability of functional alternatives.9

L

12 Ingredient 

Disclosure

The standard encourages manufacturers to disclose ingredients in products (to other businesses in the 

supply chain and/or consumers).10

L

13 Impact Assessment 

Disclosure

The standard encourages manufacturers to disclose the results of life cycle assessments and other product 

environmental or human health assessments that have been conducted.11

L

Section III: Guidelines for Conformity Assessment12

1 Follow Relevant 

Standards 

Conformity assessment bodies follow relevant International Standards, and other normative documents. B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17050-1 & -2

2 Independence The decision-making process of bodies involved in conformity assessment (including those evaluating, 

inspecting and testing conformity to standards) are independent from those organizations to whom they 

are providing their services.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17011, 17020

and 17021

3 Slide Fee Scale Conformity assessment bodies offer a sliding scale of certification fees in order to be accessible to small 

businesses.

L

4 Accreditation Conformity assessment bodies are accredited as being in compliance with relevant International Standards, 

and other normative documents.

L ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17050-1& 

2,17020,17021,

17025,ISO 17011

OR apply the evaluation factors below, which are consistent with the requirements of internationally 

accepted standards for operations of a conformity assessment body.

_

4.1 Objective & 

Impartial Structure

Conformity assessment bodies are structured in such a way that they are able to provide an objective and 

impartial evaluation of conformity. Decisions are based on the objective evidence of conformity (or 

B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17021
DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCT ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS & ECOLABELS

# Guideline Name Guideline B/L Source of Guideline Other References

nonconformity) obtained by the body.

4.2 Free from Undue 

Pressures

Conformity assessment bodies ensure that management and personnel are free from any undue 

commercial, financial and other pressures that could compromise the confidentiality, objectivity or 

impartiality of its process and decisions.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC

17011,17025, ISO 

14024

4.3 Documented 

Procedures

The conformity assessment process followed has documented procedures B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17021

4.4 Take All Necessary 

Steps to Evaluate 

Conformance

Conformity assessment bodies take all steps necessary to evaluate conformance with the relevant product 

standard requirements.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65

4.5 Role Separation Each decision on conformity is taken by a person(s) different from those who carried out the evaluation of 

conformity.

L ISO/IEC Guide 65

4.6 Certification 

Conditions Specified

The conditions for granting, maintaining and extending certification and the conditions under which 

certification may be suspended or withdrawn, partially or in total are specified in the conformity 

assessment process.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65

4.7 Records 

Management

Conformity assessment bodies establish and maintain procedures to control all documents and data that 

relate to its functions. Records are identified, managed and disposed of in such a way as to protect the 

confidentiality of conformity assessment related information.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17011, 

17020, 17021,

I17025

4.8 Dispute Resolution 

Procedures

Conformity assessment bodies have documented policies and procedures for the resolution of complaints, 

appeals and disputes.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17011,

17021

4.9 Chain-of-Custody 

Procedures

The conformity assessment bodies have effective traceability or chain-of-custody procedures where this is 

necessary to ensure qualified products meet the standard

L

4.10 Periodic Evaluation 

of Marked Products

Where a conformity assessment body authorizes the continuing use of its mark on products of a type which 

have been approved to carry the mark it periodically evaluates the marked products to confirm that they 

continue to conform to the standards.

L ISO/IEC 17030

4.11 Content of 

Declarations of 

Conformity

Declarations of conformity contain at least information on the identity of the issuer of the declaration, the 

object of the declaration, the standards or other specified requirements with which conformity is declared, 

and the person signing for and on behalf of the issuer of the declaration of conformity.

B ISO/IEC 17050-1

4.12 Suitable Action for 

Misuse

Incorrect, misleading, or unauthorized use of licenses, certificates, or conformity marks is dealt with by 

suitable action (from the mark owner).

B ISO/IEC Guide 65, 

17030

4.13 Quality Objectives Conformity assessment bodies define and document commitment to fulfilling quality objectives. B ISO/IEC Guide 65

4.14 Sufficient Personnel Conformity assessment bodies employ a sufficient number of personnel having the necessary education, 

training, technical knowledge and experience for performing conformity assessment functions.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17011,

17020 17021, 17025

4.15 Adequate Facilities 

& Equipment

Conformity assessment bodies have available suitable and adequate facilities and equipment to permit all 

required activities to be carried out.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65

4.16 Transparent Process Certification bodies provide public access to or disclosure of, appropriate and timely information about the 

certification processes; including its rules and procedures for granting, maintaining, extending, suspending 

and withdrawing certification.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17021

4.17 Information on Fees General information on the fees charged to applicants is provided. B ISO/IEC Guide 65

4.18 Information on 

Financial Support

Public access to, or disclosure of, a description of the means by which the conformity assessment body 

obtains financial support is provided.

L

4.19 Information on 

Scoring

Conformity assessment bodies make publicly available the scoring, credits and levels achieved by products 

which conform to the standard. 

L

Section IV: Guidelines for the Management of Ecolabeling Programs

13

1 Document 

Commitment to 

Programs define and document their policy, objectives for, and commitment to quality. B ISO/IEC Guide 65
DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCT ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS & ECOLABELS

# Guideline Name Guideline B/L Source of Guideline Other References

Quality

2 Evaluate 

Effectiveness

The program evaluates the effectiveness of the standard in reducing environmental impacts. L

3 Dispute Resolution 

Process

The program has a documented policy and procedure for the resolution of complaints, appeals and 

disputes.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO 17011

4 Disclose 

Stakeholders

Stakeholders who are involved in the ongoing governance and/or operations of the program are disclosed. L

5 Balance of Interests Formal rules and procedures provide for a balance of interests among stakeholders in program governance. L ISO/IEC Guide 65

6 Free from Undue 

Pressures

Programs ensure that management and personnel are free from any undue commercial, financial and other 

pressures that could compromise the confidentiality, objectivity or impartiality of their operations and 

decisions.

B ISO/IEC Guide 65 NRDC

7 Limit Administrative 

Requirements

Administrative ecolabel program requirements are limited to those necessary to establish conformance and 

operate the program. 

L ISO 14020

8 Information on 

Financial Support

Public access to, or disclosure of, a description of the means by which the conformity assessment body 

obtains financial support.

L ISO 14024 ISO 14020

9 Information on Fees General information on the fees charged to applicants is provided. B ISO/IEC Guide 65, ISO 

14024

ISO 14020

10 Publicly Available 

Criteria

The ecolabel's criteria and/or standard are publicly available.14B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO 14024; ISO 

14020; ISEAL Code; 

IAF

11 Grant the Use of 

the Mark

The ecolabel program grants the use of the label, mark or declaration when the applicant and its products 

meet the administrative and technical requirements for the program.

B ISO 14024

12 Suitable Action for 

Misuse 

Incorrect, misleading, or unauthorized use of licenses, certificates, or conformity marks is dealt with by 

suitable action (from the mark owner).

B ISO 14024 ISO/IEC 17030

13 Mutual Recognition Mutual recognition among ecolabels and standards is encouraged, and may include the mutual recognition 

of tests, inspections, conformity assessment, and administrative procedures and, where appropriate, 

product environmental criteria.

L ISO 14024

14 Publicly Available 

Directory

The program provides a publicly available directory of labeled products and their suppliers. B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17021; ISO 

10424

15 Current Directory The directory of labeled products and their suppliers is kept current. B ISO/IEC Guide 65 ISO/IEC 17021

16 Searchable 

Directory

Information in the directory of labeled products and their suppliers is provided in searchable format. L ISO 14024

17 Regional 

Information

The program provides information on labeled products availability in regional markets. L ISO 14020

18 Analyses of Market 

Uptake

The program conducts periodic analyses of the uptake of the ecolabel in the marketplace and discloses the 

results.

L
Notes:

1. IAF International Accreditation Forum: http://www.iaf.nu; IFAN International Federation of Standards Users: http://www.ifan.org; ISO: http://www.iso.org; ISEAL: 

http://www.isealalliance.org/code

2. Transparency implies that information was available to interested parties for inspection and comment where appropriate; and includes selection of product categories; 

selection and development of product environmental criteria; and product function characteristics.

3. While this baseline represents an acceptable level of balance, additional steps have been taken by a number of standards development organizations to further ensure a 

balance of diverse interests (e.g., limiting number of votes per organization, confirming accuracy of affiliations, actively recruiting additional members from other 

stakeholder categories). Such proactive approaches could be recognized as leadership. 

4. According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-119, consensus “is defined as general agreement, but not necessarily unanimity, and includes a 

process for attempting to resolve objections by interested parties, as long as all comments have been fairly considered, each objector is advised of the disposition of his or 

her objection(s) and the reasons why, and the consensus body members are given an opportunity to change their votes after reviewing the comments.” 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a119#4 Consensus is implemented by standards development organizations in many different ways. For example, some require 

75 percent approval of an action while others might require 66 percent or 50 percent for the same action to be approved.

5. A conflict exists when the terms of a standard are inconsistent or incompatible with the terms of the other standard to the extent that implementation of one standard 

would preclude proper implementation of the other.

6. Life cycle stages of a product include sourcing of raw materials, to manufacturing, packaging, transportation, distribution, retailing, use of the product, and management of 

the product when it is no longer needed (through reuse, repair, upgrading, recycling, or safe disposal). The Federal government recognizes that performing full lifecycle 

assessments (LCA) is challenging at this time due to cost, access to data, and uncertainties associated with the methodologies and tools. Therefore, this guideline intends to 

encourage standards developer to use life cycle thinking as they develop criteria for products.

7. When a standard does not address a significant or major environmental attribute (aka “hotspot”), standards developers are encouraged to explain its exclusion. The intent 

is to ensure clarity about the relevance of environmental attributes that may be included (or excluded) from the standard. Environmental attributes include, but are not 

limited to, human and environmental toxicity, environmental fate, air pollution, climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, natural resource depletion, and water 

quality.

8. Depending on the product and application, it may be appropriate to develop standards that address those significant attributes, and do not include other, less relevant, 

attributes or life cycle stages. However, if reliable evidence is available to meaningfully differentiate the performance of that product based on additional environmental 

attributes of concern or lifecycle stages (e.g., packaging, energy use in manufacturing, etc.), standards for green products should consider addressing those attributes, as 

well. Claims about products meeting environmental standards should be consistent with the standard's scope and avoid broad claims of environmental performance if 

other factors were not considered when the standard was developed (e.g. WaterSense is clearly about water, ENERGY STAR about energy, etc.).

9. A hazard-based approach, grounded in Green Chemistry principles, can reduce the use of hazardous substances, and lower overall risk to people and the environment. Key 

to this focus is an understanding of the potential hazards of chemicals in products and availability of safer alternatives. 

10. The intent of this guideline is to encourage greater disclosure, while recognizing a number of challenges in doing so for manufacturers, including supply chain complexity 

and intellectual property confidentiality. 

11. Sound human health and environmental decisions regarding the manufacture, purchase, use, and disposal of products depend on reliable and accessible data on the human 

health and environmental impact of those products. The intent of this guideline is to encourage the appropriate and voluntary sharing of this information, when it is 

available, so that others may learn and benefit.

12. If a standard does not have an associated second- or third-party conformity assessment program, or it is determined that a supplier’s declaration is sufficient for a particular 

product standard, then this category of Guidelines would not be applicable.

13. The Management of Ecolabeling Programs Guidelines would not apply to product environmental standards that are not associated with an ecolabel.

14. Publicly available means generally available to all without restriction (other than a fee for purchasing the standard or similar such requirement).