(Translation from the Chinese Report by SEPA)

On September 11, 2006, officials of the Green Council of Hong Kong signed an important agreement with officials of the China Environmental United (Beijing) Certification Center Co., Ltd (CEC), Environmental Certification Center of SEPA. This agreement officially designates the Green Council as the sole Hong Kong representative office for offering and awarding the China Environmental Label outside of China.

The China Environmental Label, like the Hong Kong Green Label [which is owned and delivered by the Green Council] and other ISO Type I environmental labels (i.e. “ecolabels”), is a credible and well-established environmental performance leadership certification and labeling system that determines and recognizes environmentally preferable (i.e. “greener”) products. Launched in 1994, it currently addresses 55 product categories. To date, approximately 21,000 products offered by nearly 1,200 companies have qualified for and been awarded the Chinese ecolabel. These products include select electrical appliances, office equipment, household products, building materials and others.

The Green Council is a Hong Kong-based non-profit, non-partisan environmental organization that was originally formed in May 2000 by a group of individuals from different sectors of industry and academia who shared a vision to help build Hong Kong into a world-class green city for the future. They formed the Green Council with the purpose of encouraging the industrial and commercial sectors to include environmental management and protection considerations and measures in their production and overall management processes.

The Agreement between the Green Council and the CEC is intended to promote and advance Chinese ecolabelling, as well as sustainable procurement and consumption. Previously, language and cultural differences limited foreign knowledge about, appreciation for, and access to the China Environmental Label. Now, the Green Council has become the representative office in Hong Kong responsible for handling inquiries about and applications for the China Environmental Label from companies in Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei and other overseas countries.

In recent years, ecolabelling has gained public and private sector interest and attention both regionally and internationally. People are increasingly thinking about and striving to alter their consumption activities in order to bring about positive environmental changes for the betterment of society and their own health conditions. Clearly, the existence of the China Environmental Label and the Hong Kong Green Label can greatly aid people in identifying and selecting environmentally preferable (i.e. “greener”) products.

In the future, Green Council officials may seek and pursue comparable agreements with other ecolabelling organizations around the world in order to cooperatively and collaboratively enhance and promote greener products and practices that will contribute to a better environment for future generations.