Green Claims Audit UK CMA Code · DMCCA 2024
CMA Green Claims Code · DMCCA enforceable since 6 Apr 2025

Would your green claims survive a CMA check?

Paste your marketing and packaging copy. Get back every environmental claim that is high-risk under the CMA Green Claims Code — the exact principle each one fails, and what to say instead. This isn't a future deadline: since 6 April 2025 the CMA can decide a claim is misleading and fine up to 10% of global turnover, without going to court. Even the leaf on your label can count.

Why this is a today problem

The CMA can fine you directly now — no court needed.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) has been in force since 6 April 2025. It gives the CMA the power to decide for itself that a business has broken consumer law with a misleading environmental claim, and to impose a fine of up to 10% of worldwide turnover — without first going to court. That is the sharp change from the old regime, where the CMA had to litigate. A misleading green claim on your pack today is enforceable today.

This is not the EU rules. The EU's Empowering Consumers Directive switches on in September 2026 and applies to claims made to EU consumers. If you sell into the EU as well, that's a separate regime — our EU edition covers it. This page is about UK law, which is already live.
Free single-claim check

Is one of your claims high-risk?

Type a phrase from your packaging or marketing. This is a screening against the Code's common problem-claims — not legal advice, and only a court can decide a breach.

The standard your claims are scored against

The CMA Green Claims Code — six principles.

The CMA's Green Claims Code sets out how environmental claims must be made. Every claim you keep has to pass all six. Read together with the DMCCA's misleading-practices regime, a claim that fails them is a claim the CMA can act on now.

Principle 1

Be truthful and accurate

The claim must be true and not create a false impression. An offset-based "carbon neutral" fails here because it implies a reduction that hasn't happened at product level.

Principle 2

Be clear and unambiguous

Vague words like "green" or "eco" leave the consumer guessing what benefit you mean — which is exactly what the CMA expects you to make specific.

Principle 3

Not omit or hide important information

Leaving out that a claim rests on offsets, or that "biodegradable" only works in industrial conditions, misleads by omission.

Principle 4

Only make fair and meaningful comparisons

Comparisons ("greener than", "better for the planet than") need equivalent, verifiable methodology across the things being compared.

Principle 5

Consider the full life cycle

A claim true of one stage but not the whole product or its packaging — recycled content but landfill packaging, say — overstates the real benefit.

Principle 6

Be substantiated

Every claim needs clear, accessible evidence a consumer could reach — an LCA, test data, or independent verification. No evidence, no claim.

Beyond the words. The Code reaches your labels and imagery too: a self-made "eco" badge, a brand or product name that implies a benefit, a leaf motif or green palette can each be a green claim that needs substantiating — even where no sentence makes the claim.
How it works

Paste, screen, fix.

1

Paste your copy

Marketing lines, packaging text, a claim list — whatever carries an environmental message. Tell us any certifications you hold and whether it runs in ads. No account.

2

We screen every claim

Each claim is scored against the Code's six principles and the DMCCA misleading-practices regime — with the specific principle it fails, never a vibe.

3

Get the verdict + the fix

A claim-by-claim PDF: high-risk, needs-substantiation or fine-as-written — each with the principle it engages, a compliant rewrite, and the evidence it would need.

Check my claims

Paste your claims

The report screens exactly what you paste. The more real copy, the more useful it is.

£89one payment · PDFCMA Code · DMCCA 2024

Paste your marketing lines, packaging copy, or a list of claims — one per line is ideal.

Certifications you hold

A recognised certification can move a blanket claim from high-risk to conditional — but only if it genuinely covers the claim.

Do any claims rely on carbon offsetting?

"Carbon neutral", "CO2 compensated", etc.

Do these claims run in advertising as well as on-pack?

Ads also fall under the ASA/CAP Code.

A screening of your claims against the CMA Green Claims Code and the DMCCA 2024 — not legal advice. Only a court can decide whether a specific claim breaks the law. Secure checkout via Stripe.

Questions

What you're buying

Is this legal advice?

No. It's a structured screening of your claims against the CMA Green Claims Code and the DMCCA 2024, with each flagged claim tied to the principle it fails and a compliant rewrite. Only a court can decide whether a specific claim actually breaches the law. Anything the report flags as high-risk should go to counsel before you spend money relabelling — the report is the fast, cited starting point.

Is "carbon neutral" really a problem now?

The CMA treats neutrality claims built on carbon offsetting as high-risk: they imply a reduction that hasn't happened at product level, omit the reliance on offsets, and are hard to substantiate — engaging Code principles 1, 3 and 6 at once. The CMA and the ASA have both moved against offset-based "carbon neutral" claims. A claim built on a genuine, evidenced reduction is different; the report separates the two and flags any offset-based claim you've pasted.

Do brand names and logos count?

Yes — the Code is clear that a brand name, product name or visual identity (a leaf, a green palette, an in-house seal) can itself be an environmental claim that needs substantiating. The report prompts you to check your labels and imagery, not just your sentences.

Is there a grace period for stock already on shelves?

No. The DMCCA regime is already live, so there's no switch-on date to prepare for. For claims already printed on packs, on shelf-edge or online that you can't change immediately, the practical corrective measures are on-pack corrective stickers, shelf notices and updated product pages — the claim must be corrected wherever the consumer sees it.

What about the ASA and advertising?

If your claims also run in ads, the ASA enforces the CAP/BCAP Code's environmental-claims rules on top of the Code and the DMCCA — and it has ruled against vague and offset-based green claims. Tell us on the form if your claims run in advertising and the report adds an ASA/CAP note; the rewrites are written to satisfy both.

I sell in the EU too — is this the same as your EU tool?

No. The UK and EU regimes are different laws with different tests and timing. This edition covers UK law (the CMA Code + the DMCCA, live now). If you also sell to EU consumers, use our EU edition for the Empowering Consumers Directive that switches on in September 2026.