ABSTRACT
Eco-labeling has been receiving growing attention in modern environmental policies. Since Germany introduced the “Blue Angel” program in 1977, many countries have introduced their own eco-labeling programs. The objective of these programs has been to improve domestic environments by providing firms with incentives to produce more environmentally friendly products. These are usually set up based on nation-specific situations in favor of their economic, environmental, and technology infrastructure (Salzman 1997; Vossenaar 1997). Such nation specificity in these programs could cause concerns with regard to trade, which arise mainly from two sources: transparency of the schemes and inclusion of non-product-related process and production methods (PPMs) in the eco-labeling criteria. We examine the latter of the two because it presents more of a structural problem.
