「식품의 표시·광고」에서 ‘친환경’에 대한 표시 및 광고의 금지 - 전혀 친환경적이지 않지만 친환경적인 것처럼 제품과 서비스를 공급하는 ‘위장환경주의 홍보’를 의미하는「그린워싱(Greenwashing)」과 관련하여 -

“Greenwashing” is a compound word of whitewashing, which means “blindness that conceals unpleasant facts,” and green, which symbolizes “the natural environment.” It refers to products and services that appear to be eco-friendly even though they are not eco-friendly at all. It means 'promotion of camouflage environmentalism' that supplies . A recent case of the German Federal Supreme Court in the so-called ‘Katjes-Urteil (Katjes eco-friendly advertising jelly case)’ banned the use of the term “climate neutral (Klimaneutral)” in advertising by jelly and other candy manufacturers. In other words, it was stated that the term 'climate neutrality (Klimaneutral)' is not clear and that in order to prevent so-called 'greenwashing' that deceives consumers, companies should provide detailed explanations on terms such as 'climate neutrality'. . In addition, in order to eradicate 'greenwashing', the European Union (EU) will also, starting from September 27, 2026 (tentatively), labeling of consumer products such as 'eco-friendly', 'eco', 'carbon neutral', '' without a clear basis. A bill is planned to be implemented to completely ban advertising labels such as 'climate friendly' and 'biodegradable'. Currently, in Korea, the Ministry of Environment is implementing the ‘Environmental Product Declaration’ and the ‘Low Carbon Certification System’ in relation to ‘eco-friendly’ labeling and advertising of products. The Ministry of Environment’s “Environmental Product Declaration” is a system that quantitatively displays environmental information about the entire process of products and services, including raw material collection, production, distribution, use, and disposal, to improve environmental friendliness. In other words, it is a system that encourages continuous environmental improvement by accurately and transparently disclosing the environmental impact of products and services. In addition, the Ministry of Environment's "Low Carbon Product Certification" is granted to products that have received Environmental Product Labeling certification if their carbon emissions are reduced by more than 3.3% compared to their previous environmental performance or if their carbon emissions are lower than the average carbon emissions of similar products over the past six years. In our case, in relation to ‘eco-friendly’ labeling and advertising of food, Article 3, Paragraph 1, Items 1 and 2 of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising states, “① Business operators, etc. may deceive consumers or cause them to make mistakes. You must not perform any of the following acts or allow other business operators to do any of the following acts that are likely to cause public notice or may harm the fair trade order. 1. False or exaggerated labeling/advertisement 2. Deceptive labeling/advertising” and Article 16-10, Paragraph 1, Items 1 and 2 of the Environmental Technology and Environmental Industry Support Act states, “① Manufacturers, manufacturers, distributors, or sellers (hereinafter referred to as “manufacturers, etc.”) shall be responsible for the environmental performance of products. You must not engage in any of the following acts that may deceive consumers or mislead them. 1. False/exaggerated labeling/advertising 2. Deceptive labeling/advertising”, and certain restrictions are placed on environmental-related labeling and advertising of products. It is not possible to prohibit the labeling and advertising of 'eco-friendly' products for products that have received environmental product labeling or low-carbon certification from the Ministry of Environment based on the above legal provisions, and it is difficult to say that this constitutes a violation of the law, but it is not eco-friendly at all. This could well be considered 'greenwashing', which is the promotion of environmentalism disguised as supplying products and services as if they are eco-friendly. This study examines our laws and various systems currently in effect, focusing on 'eco-friendly' labeling and advertising of food among various product types, and explores legal improvement measures for this as well as fundamental issues related to food. And this study considers closely the issue of whether to continue to allow 'eco-friendly' labeling and advertising.