The Code provides practical guidance to the business sector, including advertisers and advertising agencies, as well as to self-regulatory advertising organizations and national governments. By promoting self-regulation in the business sector in accordance with the highest ethical and legal standards, the Code provides assurance to consumers that businesses abiding by the Code can be relied upon to provide truthful advertising.

The Code sets forth general principles governing all marketing communications, and includes a separate section on environmental claims. The Code defines “advertisement” or “advertising” as any form of marketing communication carried by the media, usually in return for payment or other valuable consideration.1 It includes a broad admonition that advertisers avoid or appropriately qualify general claims of environmental benefit, a position that has been the underpinning of advertising guidance for
years. General environmental claims that may prove  difficult to substantiate using accepted scientific methods should be avoided