Test a goods or services environmental claim against the Green Guides
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the packaging, the advertisement and the claim, mark whether the claim names the product, the package, or the service, whether any qualification is clear and prominent, and whether a general environmental benefit is stated without a specific limit. Do not rewrite the claim.
- What the lawyer must review
- Section 260.1 says the guides apply to claims about the environmental attributes of a product, package, or service in marketing to individuals, and also to business-to-business transactions. They are the Commission's views on unfair or deceptive claims under section 5 of the FTC Act. They do not bind the Commission or the public. Section 260.3 says qualifications should be clear, prominent, and understandable, a claim should say whether it refers to the product, the package, or the service, and a claim should not overstate a benefit, including a negligible one. Section 260.4 says it is deceptive to misrepresent a general environmental benefit, and that unqualified general environmental benefit claims should not be made. The lawyer decides whether the claim is deceptive and what, if anything, changes before it is published.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Do not begin AI assistance until the responsible lawyer has defined and confirmed its permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.