On-product claim

Definition

An on-product claim is an environmental or social claim made on the product itself or its packaging — as text ('made with 50% recycled plastic'), a logo or a certification mark. It sits at the intersection of scheme rules and consumer law: label owners control mark use through their own governance (the FSC on-product label rules, the ASI Claims Guide, Fairtrade's mark guidelines), while regulators police misleading content — the EU's Empowering Consumers Directive bans generic environmental claims and sustainability labels not based on a certification scheme from September 2026, and the FTC Green Guides govern the US market. Because the claim travels with the product to the point of sale, it is the most visible — and most litigated — form of sustainability communication.