Corporate Social
Responsibility 3
Compliance control
Global Compact
• Incentive system
– Use of the UN name and emblem
– Global Compact Logo
– Listing at the Global Compact website
Global Compact
• Compliance control
– Concerning proper use of the logo
• Detailed rules on its use
• Prior permission required
• Possible sanctions:
– Removal from the list of participants
– Revocation of participant status
– ‚Legal proceedings with the appropriate authorities‘
Global Compact
• Compliance control cont.
– Annual communication on progress
• Communications are published on the website
• Failure to communicate progress leads to
qualification as ‚inactive‘
– Loss of right to use the Global Compact name and logo
– Complaint procedure
• Open to everybody
• Non-reaction leads to qualification as ‚inactive‘
• Breach of the GC principles may lead to removal
from the list of participants
FSC
• Incentive system
– FSC logo
– FSC marketplace
FSC
• Compliance system
– If a member engages in activities contrary to
the interests of FSC or no longer meets the
membership criteria, a destitution process
may be initiated by the Board or an individual
member (supported by two other members).
– Consequences?
Ecolabel as a state-based system
• A comparison with the EU eco-label system
(currently Regulation (EC) 66/2010 on the EU
Ecolabel)
Ecolabel
• Incentive system
– Use of the ecolabel
– Promotion of the ecolabel by the
Commission and the Member States
– Purchasing policies in public
procurement
State law based compliance
control?
• Application procedure with review of
submitted documentation
– Including on-site verifications if production facilities
are relevant
• contract with each operator, covering the terms
of use of the EU Ecolabel
• The EU Ecolabel may only be used in
connection with products complying with
the EU Ecolabel criteria applicable to the
products concerned and for which the EU
Ecolabel has been awarded (Art. 9(2)).
State law based compliance
control?
• Post-grant control, Art. 10(2)
– The competent body shall, in respect of products to
which it has awarded the EU Ecolabel, verify that the
product complies with the EU Ecolabel criteria and
assessment requirements published under Article 8,
on a regular basis. The competent body shall, as
appropriate, also undertake such verifications upon
complaint. These verifications may take the form of
random spot-checks
– Can lead to prohibition of use and loss of fees paid
State law based compliance
control?
• Art. 10(1): Any false or misleading advertising or
use of any label or logo which leads to confusion
with the EU Ecolabel shall be prohibited.
• Art. 17: Member States shall lay down the rules
on penalties applicable to infringements of the
provisions of this Regulation and shall take all
measures necessary to ensure that they are
implemented. The penalties provided for must
be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
State law based compliance
control?
• Law of unfair commercial practices
– Example: Unfair Commercial Practices Directive
2005/29/EC
– The use of a logo as a commercial practice
– The claim of adherence to a code of conduct as a
commercial practice
Black list, Art. 5(5) with Annex A
1.
2.
3.
4.
Claiming to be a signatory to a code of conduct when
the trader is not
Displaying a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent
without having obtained the necessary authorisation
Claiming that a code of conduct has an endorsement
from a public or other body which it does not have
Claiming that a trader (including his commercial
practices) or a product has been approved, endorsed
or authorised by a public or private body when he/it
has not or making such a claim without complying with
the terms of the approval, endorsement or
authorisation
Misleading actions, Art. 6
1. A commercial practice shall be regarded as misleading if it contains
false information and is therefore untruthful or in any way, including
overall presentation, deceives or is likely to deceive the average
consumer, even if the information is factually correct, in relation to
one or more of the following elements, and in either case causes or
is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision that he would
not have taken otherwise:
(b) the main characteristics of the product, such as its availability,
benefits, risks, execution, composition, accessories, after-sale
customer assistance and complaint handling, method and date of
manufacture or provision, delivery, fitness for purpose, usage,
quantity, specification, geographical or commercial origin or the
results to be expected from its use, or the results and material
features of tests or checks carried out on the product;
Misleading actions, Art. 6
2. A commercial practice shall also be regarded as misleading if, in its
factual context, taking account of all its features and circumstances,
it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a
transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise, and
it involves:
(b) non-compliance by the trader with commitments contained in codes
of conduct by which the trader has undertaken to be bound, where:
(i) the commitment is not aspirational but is firm and is capable of being
verified,
and
(ii) the trader indicates in a commercial practice that he is bound by the
code.
State law based compliance
control?
• Contract law
– Example: Consumer Sales Law Directive 1999/44/EC
– Art. 2: Conformity with the contract
– 1. The seller must deliver goods to the consumer which are in
conformity with the contract of sale.
– 2. Consumer goods are presumed to be in conformity with the
contract if they:
– (a) comply with the description given by the seller and possess
the qualities of the goods which the seller has held out to the
consumer as a sample or model;
– (b) are fit for any particular purpose for which the consumer
requires them and which he made known to the seller at the time
of conclusion of the contract and which the seller has accepted;
State law based compliance
control?
– (c) are fit for the purposes for which goods of the same type are
normally used;
– (d) show the quality and performance which are normal in goods
of the same type and which the consumer can reasonably
expect, given the nature of the goods and taking into account
any public statements on the specific characteristics of the
goods made about them by the seller, the producer or his
representative, particularly in advertising or on labelling.
OECD Guidelines
• Incentive system?
– Rather addressed to states and only indirectly
to companies
OECD Guidelines
• Compliance control through National Contact
Points (NCPs)
– agencies established by adhering governments to
promote and implement the Guidelines.
– assist enterprises and their stakeholders to take
appropriate measures to further the implementation of
the Guidelines.
– mediation and conciliation platform for resolving
practical issues
• Černič, HanseLR 4 (2008), 71 (83 ff.); Perez, 15 Geo. Int'l
Envtl. L. Rev., 1 (19 ff.).