A regulatory term referring to a third-party verification scheme that certifies that a product, process or business complies with certain requirements.
Certification scheme is the Green Claims / Empowering Consumers term for a third-party verification scheme that certifies compliance and permits a related sustainability label under transparent, fair, and publicly available rules.
Directive (EU) 2024/825 empowering consumers for the green transition
a third-party verification scheme that certifies that a product, process or business complies with certain requirements, that allows for the use of a corresponding sustainability label, and the terms of which, including its requirements, are publicly available and meet the following criteria: (i) the scheme is open under transparent, fair, and non-discriminatory terms to all traders willing and able to comply with the scheme’s requirements; (ii) the scheme’s requirements are developed by the scheme owner in consultation with relevant experts and stakeholders; (iii) the scheme sets out procedures for dealing with non-compliance with the scheme’s requirements and provides for the withdrawal or suspension of the use of the sustainability label by the trader in case of non-compliance with the scheme’s requirements; and (iv) the monitoring of a trader’s compliance with the scheme’s requirements is subject to an objective procedure and is carried out by a third party whose competence and independence from both the scheme owner and the trader are based on international, Union or national standards and procedures;
Reference: Article 1 / Directive 2005/29/EC Article 2(r)
This term matters when sustainability labels or claims rely on a scheme’s governance, expert input, stakeholder consultation, non-compliance procedures, and monitoring processes.
For Minespider, certification scheme is a claims-assurance term for documenting the verification structure behind a label or sustainability assertion.
The Green Claims Directive (proposed, not yet adopted as of mid-2025) will impose substantiation and third-party verification requirements on explicit environmental claims. The Empowering Consumers Directive already prohibits generic environmental claims without substantiation. Companies making environmental claims about their products or supply chains should design their claims architecture to be compatible with both the existing Empowering Consumers Directive requirements and the anticipated Green Claims Directive framework.