The many different eco, animal welfare and other product quality labels in the market today may be causing confusion among consumers. Transparency and openness are needed. This is the opinion expressed by the Social and Economic Council’s Committee for Consumer Affairs (CCA) in its advisory report on sustainability quality labels, which it has presented to the Dutch State Secretary for the Environment.

Existing sustainability quality labels have only a small share of the Dutch consumer market (less than 5%). The CCA believes their effectiveness will be improved by providing consumers with more comprehensive information about the value of the quality labels and what they stand for. Further sustainability criteria should also be developed. Opinions in the CCA differed as to how potent sustainability quality labels are as an instrument for influencing consumer behaviour. Some members did not see this as possible, while others thought quality labels can be made to have a greater impact on consumers, specifically by setting criteria at various levels and by means of marketing.