Since the introduction of Green Mark Program in 1993, 112 product categories are now available for application. The following major tasks have been completed within this fiscal year: (1) after thorough literature survey, it is confirmed that two methods, HPM and CVM, have been widely used by many countries as the tool to analyze the economical benefits of an ecolabelling program. Therefore, this project used the CVM as the major and HPM as the minor method and Household Refrigerators as the sole target to perform a preliminary study. The result showed that although there were some differences between the conclusions drawn from using CVM and HPM methods, both conclusions demonstrated that having a Green Mark logo could bring only insignificant economical benefit to the Household Refrigerators; (2) selected and drafted product criteria for 5 product categories (Facial Tissue, Paper Napkin, Office Partitions, Leather Shoes and Air Purifiers); (3) completed the revision of 4 Computers-related, 2 Computer Peripheral Products-related, 3 Hot Water Heaters-related, 2 Building Products-related, Recycled Plastic/Rubber, Paper, Air Conditioner, Recycled Wood, Wooden Toys, Ink Pens and Textile Product criteria and they were under or passed review by the Green Mark Review Committee separately. The project had also provided revision suggestions on the other ten criteria, including the ones on Electrical Motorcycles, Washing Machines, Refrigerators and Fluorescent Lamps; (4) the survey to many GEN member organizations on how they develop product criteria was performed and analyzed. All organizations follow the principles and procedures outlined in the ISO 14024 standard, including market survey, stakeholder consultation, product category selection, life cycle thinking as well as identification of key functional characteristics. However, each program has resource of implementation and therefore, different extent of conformity to the standard; (5) the evaluation on the environmental benefits of 10 product categories, including Recycled Plastic/Rubber, Recycled Building Products and energy-using products was completed and a “Guideline for the Evaluation of Environmental Benefit of Green Mark Products” was drafted and (5) Other program system-related and administrative work items were performed, including the revision of three existing standard operation procedures and testing methods, organizing 15 public hearing meetings and 1 workshop.

Green Mark;Criteria;Environmental Benefit;Eco-labelling