Finland

Relevant legislation or guidelines

• Finnish Consumer Protection Act (38/1978, as amended), in particular Chapter 2 on Marketing and procedures in the customer relationship.
• Finnish Unfair Business Practices Act (1061/1978, as amended).
• The Consumer Ombudsman's guidelines on the use of environmentally oriented claims in marketing (1992, updated 2002 and 2019).
• The recommendation on the use of green claims by the Board of Business Practice (LTL) of the Finnish Chamber of Commerce (published on 11 January 2023)

Is there any upcoming relevant legislation or guidelines?

No.

Who are the responsible authorities or bodies?

• Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (kilpailu- ja kuluttajavirasto) and Finnish Consumer Ombudsman (kuluttaja-asiamies).
• Finnish Market Court (dispute resolution and enforcment).
• The Council of Ethics in Advertising (Mainonnan eettinen neuvosto), which is the Finnish advertising self-regulatory body.
• The Board of Business Practice of (LTL) the Finnish Chamber of Commerce which is a self-regulatory body issuing statements and copy advice.

What are the enforcement measures?

• The Consumer Ombudsman must seek to persuade the entrepreneur to voluntarily abandon the unlawful practice and cases are primarily handled by negotiation. The Consumer Ombudsman may also impose a prohibition with a notice of a penalty payment fine in order to lend force to the prohibition. In addition, if there is a violation of certain provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, the Consumer Ombudsman has the right to request the Market Court to impose a penalty fee (may not exceed 4% of company's turnover or, if non-business entity, EUR 40,000).
• Regarding civil procedures, the Market Court may issue a prohibition and the claimant may claim compensation for damages in accordance with the Unfair Business Practices Act.
• The Board of Business Practice (LTL) issues statements on whether a company has used illicit trade practices. In addition, the LTL provides copy advice which is an opinion as to whether or not an advertisement complies with the ICC rules.

Who can pursue infringements?

• Finnish Consumer Ombudsman.
• Market Court at the request of Consumer Ombudsman.
• Competitors can bring a civil action before the Market Court if they are affected by a company’s unfair commercial practices.
• The Council of Ethics in Advertising issues statements on ethically acceptable advertising practice and deals with requests mainly from consumers. The Board of Business Practice issues decisions on misleading advertisements or comparative advertising. These statements of the council/the board are non-binding.
• The LTL issues statements on the request of a company. Copy advice is issued on the request of advisers, agencies or the media.

What are the general rules of thumb for green claims?

• Green claims should be specific, understandable, unambiguous and clear.
• Green claims must not be misleading.
• When using green claims in marketing make sure to assess the overall impression, which should be based on the actual facts. The overall impression can be misleading even if the facts are truthful.
• General and unspecified environmental claims should be avoided. These include, among others, the expressions “green”, “carbon neutral”, “fossil free” and “environmentally friendly”
• In general, green claims should be avoided, if the product does not have any environmentally relevant properties
• The failure to provide relevant information may also be considered misleading

Do green claims need to be substantiated by evidence?

Green claims should be supported by factual evidence that can be verified. The consumer should have easy access to the relevant information. Any general claim regarding the environmental impact of the product should be supported by a study which covers the product’s environmental impact during its entire life cycle.