Consumersare being confused and misled by the hodge-podge of environmental claims made byhousehold products,according to a"green labeling"study publishedby Consumers International Friday.

Among the report's more outrageous findings,aGerman fertilizer described itself as"earthworm friendly";a brandof flour said it was"non-pollufing"and a British toilet paper claimedto be"environmentally friendlier".

The study was written and researched by Britain'sNational Consumer Council(NCC)for lobby group Consumer International.It wasfunded by the German and Dutch governments and the European Commission.

"While many good and useful claims are beingmade,it is clear there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequatelyinformed about the environmental impact of products they buy,"saidConsumers International director Anna Fielder.

The 10-country study surveyed product packaging inBritain,Western Europe,Scandinavia and the United States.It found thatproducts sold in Germany and the United Kingdom made the most environmentalclaims on average.

The report focused on claims made by specificproducts,such as detergent insect sprays and by some garden products.It didnot test the claims,but compared them to labeling guidelines set by the InternationalStandards Organization(ISO)in September,1999.

Researchers documented claims of environmentalfriendliness made by about 2000 products and found many too vague or toomisleading to meet ISO standards.

"Many products had specially-designed labels tomake them seem environmentally friendly,but in fact many of these symbols meannothing,"said report researcher Philip Page."Laundry detergents madethe most number of claims with 158.Household cleaners were second with 145separate claims,while paints were third on our list with 73.The high numbers showhow very confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from themisleading."he said.

The ISO labeling standards ban vague or misleadingclaims on product packaging,because terms such as"environmentallyfriendly"and"non-polluting"cannot be verified."What weare now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standardsset by the ISO."said Page.

A study was carried out by Britain's NCCto_______.查看材料

• A.find out how many claims made by products fail tomeet environmental standards
• B.inform the consumers of the environmental impactof the products they buy
• C.examine claims made byproducts against ISOstandards
• D.revise the guidelines set by the InternationalStandards Organization