Ministry Likely To Waive Testing Fee For Ecomark Label

The ministry of environment and forests is likely to waive the testing fee for award of the Ecomark.

A waiver of the testing fee has been recommended to the ministry by the steering committee the apex body set by the ministry to formulate strategies for promotion, implementation and overall success of the Ecomark scheme and is being examined by the ministrys finance committee.

The testing fee amount varies from about Rs 10,000-50,000 depending on the product and the tests involved in determining its environment friendliness.

The ministry feels the scheme would not take off unless the industry is extended fiscal concessions like testing fee waiver.

 

The scheme, which was launched in 1991 with a lot of fanfare, has had few takers from the industry with Godrejs one-year license for soap being an exception. But, Godrej neither took the logo nor applied for the renewal of the licence.

The industry is also demanding exemption from paying the licence fee, which ranges between Rs 10,000 to Rs 2 lakh depending on the product. This has been opposed to by the ministry, which feels that this expense has to be borne by the manufacturer.

The industry is also demanding concessions on custom duty for importing pollution control equipment required for producing environment-friendly products.

According to the ministry, such concessions are already in place for import of all pollution control equipment and that there is no need to create a separate category to cover equipment for products under the Ecomark scheme. Some critics feel the scheme should be made mandatory for all consumer products coming under its purview.

However, officials opposed to this idea say nowhere in the world is the scheme mandatory. Instead, a greater public awareness needs to be created so that consumers prefer environment-friendly products, they said.

The official view is that products with an Ecomark label are more likely to succeed in European markets as consumers there are environment conscious.

Presently 15 categories of products, mostly consumer items, are covered under the Ecomark scheme.

These are: soaps and detergents, paper, food items, lubricating oils, packaging materials and packages, architectural paints and powder coatings, batteries, electrical and electronic goods, food additives, wood substitutes, cosmetics, aerosol propellants, plastic products, textiles and leather and leather products.