---
id: KB-NO-007
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/regulation/labelling-and-what-your-product-claims
idioma: en
categoria: normativa
subcategoria: producto
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-NO-001, KB-NO-006]
citadoPor: [KB-AL-007, KB-IU-009, KB-NO-015, KB-NO-018, KB-NO-024]
---

# Labelling and what your product claims

_Every claim on a label has to be backed by a document._

**Responde a:** what can i put on the label · product environmental claims · claiming recyclable requirements · greenwashing what documentation do i need

Everything a label says is a claim someone can ask you to prove: that it is recyclable, that it contains recycled content, where it comes from, that it meets a standard. The label is the easy part; the paperwork behind it is not.

## Each claim, its backing

| If you claim… | You need… | Who holds it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Composition or material | The supplier's data sheet, current | Your supplier |
| Recycled content percentage | A declaration or certificate with its date | Your supplier, sometimes with testing |
| Origin | Upstream traceability documentation | The whole chain, and it takes longest |
| Compliance with a standard | Certificate or declaration of conformity | A body or yourselves |
| Any environmental benefit | Specific backing for that specific claim | Depends what you claim |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The last row is where most companies get into trouble unintentionally. Generic environmental claims — "environmentally friendly", "sustainable" — without concrete, verifiable backing are increasingly scrutinised, and responsibility sits with whoever places the product on the market, not the supplier who said it verbally.

## The practical rule

Before putting something on a label, ask: if tomorrow I am asked to prove this, with what document and who has to give it to me? If the answer is "I will ask the supplier", ask before printing the label, not after.

> [!WARNING]
> Supplier changes are where this breaks. If you change the supplier of a component and the label keeps making the same claim, that claim may have stopped being true without anyone noticing.

## Frameworks cited

Consumer information, environmental claims and their substantiation, product-specific labelling rules, and where applicable the requirements of any certifications you use as an argument. What you may claim and with what backing is confirmed by your adviser: this only explains how to have the backing gathered and dated.

> [!NOTE]
> Marking backing documents for annual review is what stops a label printed three years ago from still claiming something no longer supportable.

**Is a supplier declaration enough?**

It depends on the claim; some need testing. Ask before assuming.

**What if the supplier changes the formula?**

The claim may stop being true: hence periodic review.

**Who answers if a claim is false?**

Usually whoever places the product on the market; confirm for your case.

## Ejemplos

**A company changes packaging supplier and keeps the label with the previous recycled content figure.**

- Requests the new supplier's data sheet before printing more
- Marks the sheets for annual review

→ Spots that the figure has changed before anyone asks.

**The label claims something and nobody knows what backs it.**

- Links each claim to its document

→ Every line on the label has its paper behind it.

**The supplier changes and the claim stops being true.**

- Reviews labels when suppliers change

→ The label keeps telling the truth.

**A client asks you to evidence one specific claim.**

- Checks that reference's file

→ You answer without searching email.

**The label is approved without reviewing what it claims.**

- Reviews claim by claim before printing

→ Reprinting a whole run is avoided.

**The document backing a claim expires.**

- Records its validity when filing it

→ The warning arrives before the label stops being true.