Czech Environmental Product

Website:

www.ekoznacka.cz

Target:

Products and services friendlier towards the environment and the health of the consumers during their entire lifecycle.

Product/service group:

The range of certified environmentally friendly products is very broad – from toilet paper to paint and hot water boilers and from detergents to environmentally friendly services provided in tourism or education.

Awarding Institution & criteria:

The Czech Ecolabelling Agency, one of the units of CENIA (Czech Environmental Information Agency), is the body responsible for the Czech National Eco-labelling Programme.

The Czech Ecolabelling Agency, one of the units of CENIA, is the body responsible for the Czech National Eco-labelling Programme.

• it receives proposals from producers, importers, institutions and relevant organisations, as well as the public, and issues written standpoints to the applicants,
• it prepares and publishes technical reports and draft Directives,
• it provides application forms, relevant materials, information and guidelines to the applicants,
• it registers and administers the applications and prepares reports on products which are to be labelled as environmentally friendly,
• based on a resolution of the Ministry of the Environment it enters into license agreements with applicants and collects registration fees for this service,
• with respect to draft Directives, the Agency must maintain records of experts and professional units, authorised and accredited laboratories and test rooms to recommend to an applicant,
• the Agency submits reports of its activities to the Minister of the Environment and to the Council twice a year and biannually organises inspection dates of its activities,
• based on the requirements of the guidelines, the Agency may verify compliance with its conditions before granting a trademark to an Eco-label holder.

Control mechanisms:

Obligations of the eco-label holder:

• the eco-label may be used only on the basis of a licence agreement made between the holder and the Agency,
• the eco-label may be used only monochromatically (black or green), specifying the identification number,
• the eco-label may be used only with products that are subject to the licence agreement,
• the eco-label may be used for advertising only when advertising the product that is subject to the licence agreement; it may not be used for general advertising of the company,
• the eco-label may not be assigned to a third party,
• if possible, the eco-label should be placed on the product; if not, it can be used in a different way upon the agreement with the Agency,
• the holder shall provide correct information regarding the eco-label.

Charges:

The registration fee for product category is 20 000 CZK (some 750 – 800 EUR). Discounts possible for small companies and ISO 14 001 certified companies. The fee for contract extension is 2000 CZK (75-80 EUR). The registration fee for service category is 10 000 CZK (350 – 400 EUR). Discounts may also apply.

Relevance on the market:

As for the year 2009, some 400 products and services hold the Czech Ecolabel brand. Seven Czech companies also use directly the EU Eco-Flower logo. In total, 89 companies use the eco-label logo for 53 product categories.

In the year 2000 the Czech government has issued a decree, recommending the public organisations, including ministries and regional and municipal governments, to prefer the eco-labelled products during their public procurement activities.