Operation Crackdown: Netherlands, Norway Issue Stringent Guidelines on Use of Higg MSI

A joint crackdown by consumer authorities in the Netherlands and Norway on the use of Higg MSI is critical for the entire clothing industry, both for developers and providers of data instruments as well as for clothing companies that use these types of instruments.

Long Story, Cut Short

The two authorities have identified aspects of environmental claims made by traders based on the Higg MSI that need to be brought in line with the relevant rules in order to mitigate the risk of such claims being misleading.
The guidance document does not constitute a legal framework for making environmental claims.
It is based on the authorities' interpretation of current EU law, but is not a legally binding ruling.

Consumer authorities in the Netherlands and Norway have issued stringent guidelines on the usage of the controversial Higg MSI by clothing brands in making sustainability claims.

The joint crackdown by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) and the Norwegian Consumer Authority (NCA) came on Tuesday. The Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI) is owned by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC).
Although the recommendations are meant for the use of the Higg MSI in communicating sustainability claims about materials, they are also important for the entire clothing industry, both for developers and providers of data instruments as well as for clothing companies that use these types of instruments.

The scope: The two authorities have identified aspects of environmental claims made by traders based on the Higg MSI that need to be brought in line with the relevant rules in order to mitigate the risk of such claims being misleading and prohibited in the EU/EEA area.

The guidance document does not constitute a legal framework for making environmental claims. It is based on the authorities' interpretation of current EU law.

The document: The ACM and NCA have drawn up guidelines covering for i) the documentation and substantiation of sustainability claims for materials based on the Higg MSI, ii) the types of claims that can be made, and iii) how such claims should be presented to consumers.

Notes for the coalition: The two authorities do not recommend the SAC to adopt the measures concerning information to consumers. The reason: this could quickly overload the consumer with information and contradict the aim of putting the information into context.

The recommendation: The SAC should design a way of displaying Higg MSI based claims / marketing in such a way that much of the necessary information can be understood by the consumer from the presentation itself, rather than from extensive explanations and waivers. This can be done for example by implementing communicative elements in design choices, graphical illustrations or interactive figures.

The main pointers include:

Businesses that use the Higg MSI for its sustainability claims about materials should clearly indicate that this concerns general, average data that have no direct link to the production process of that specific product;
Businesses should indicate that a comprehensive impact analysis of the used materials has not been made, but rather an impact analysis for four categories, and that this is a ‘cradle-to-gate’ analysis (which is a sustainability impact analysis from production to sales);
In addition, it should be clear to consumers that the Higg MSI only compares the environmental impact within a single type of material, not between materials. This means that the impact of organic cotton is compared with conventional cotton, and not with polyester, for example;
Finally, the underlying data must be up-to-date and be validated by a third party.

This guidance is based on the authorities' interpretation of current EU law, but is not a legally binding ruling.

The backdrop: The Higg MSI has been under cloud for a while.

In June, the Norwegian Consumer Agency (Forbrukertilsynet) had ruled that outdoor brand Norrøna was breaking the law when they marketed their clothes as environment-friendly. Swedish fast fashion monolith H&M was also issued the same warning against using the same type of marketing.
In September, H&M and French sporting goods retail chain Decathlon were found to have made unsubstantiated sustainability claims on their apparel by Dutch watchdog, the ACM.

The problems with Higg MSI: The guidelines have their roots in the earlier NCA investigation which found the documentation for, and substantiation of, the environmental claims to be insufficient. The claims were also presented in a way the average consumer would not understand.

The findings of the NCA included:

The global average data did not constitute documentation for a product specific claim.
Documentation for claims made was outdated.
Documentation included data not meant for comparison as done by the Higg MSI.
Information on other relevant impact categories other than those four in the cradle-to-gate phase presented to the consumer, were not accounted for.

Operation Crackdown: Netherlands, Norway Issue Stringent Guidelines on Use of Higg MSI

A joint crackdown by consumer authorities in the Netherlands and Norway on the use of Higg MSI is critical for the entire clothing industry, both for developers and providers of data instruments as well as for clothing companies that use these types of instruments.

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