How ethical are eco labels?

I agree entirely with Cedric. Producers more and more put their own labels on the packaging of their products. 

According to a British survey by order to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the extensive variety of eco labels are experienced as confusing and deceiving by consumers. Such as Cedric mentioned in his blog, too often people wrongly think they buy ethically produced goods. These labels however, are no guarantee that every part of the supply chain has acted ethically.  

Cedric said some labels do not have any ethical requirements, which is very disturbing in my opinion. Dr Kathy Lewis, the head of the University of Hertfordshire’s Agricultural and Environmental Research Unit, confirms this fact. Just by paying a membership fee, companies are allowed to use an ‘ethical’ label. What does it mean for products with no label? Are their producers socially irresponsible? Or did they just not pay their membership fee?

Too many labels and too many different requirements make it impossible for consumers to judge the ethical level of companies. We need a more global accepted system to stamp the ethical effort. A scale, found on all products, informing consumers how harmful or harmless a product is to the environment, would bring some transparency. (Telegraph)

Jolien Nachtergaele