Dutch Regulator Continues Its Battle Against Misleading Sustainability Claims

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Market (ACM) has recently announced that it will further investigate six companies in the clothing sector because of possible misleading practices concerning sustainability claims.

In May 2021, the ACM contacted over 170 businesses in three different sectors of the economy - energy, dairy products, and clothing - and urged them to critically evaluate whether their sustainability claims were accurate, clear, and sufficiently substantiated. The Dutch regulator subsequently launched market investigations in those sectors, and the results of the investigation into sustainability claims made by ten major clothing companies are the first to be made public, although on a no-name basis.