FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak was one of the keynote speakers at this week's Consumer Brands Association annual CPG Legal Forum.  She gave an interesting talk, sharing her views about the FTC and where it was headed.  

Although she shared thoughts about lots of topics, including “surveillance” advertising, artificial intelligence, and Robinson Patman, the issue that caught a lot of our attention was what she had to say about the Green Guides.  

The FTC began its review of the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims back in December 2022.  In light of the fact that the Green Guides haven't been updated since 2012, and that a lot has changed in the environmental marketing space since then, we've all been anxiously waiting for the new Guides to come out.  When they didn't get released before the end of the Biden administration, people started to wonder whether they'd even be revised at all. 

In response to a question about the status of the Green Guides, Commissioner Holyoak didn't say one way or another whether the Green Guides would be revised, and if so, when that might be.  Sitting in the audience, though, it sure sounded like that meant that we shouldn't expect the revised Green Guides to be coming out any time soon.

What did she say about the Green Guides?   

First, she emphasized that, although the Green Guides are not law, some states have incorporated them into their own state laws.  She indicated that, because of this, “what we do here is very important.”

Second, she said that she supports updating the Green Guides and is thinking about that.  She explained, though, that there were important issues to consider, in light of all of the changes that have happened in the marketplace since the last revision of the Guides.  She asked, for example, whether the definition of “recyclable” needs to be updated, in light of technological changes such as chemical recycling. 

Third, she said she believed in taking enforcement action against marketers that make false environmental marketing claims, but said that the FTC needs to be careful, when taking action, about impeding innovation.