ISO 14025 Accreditations

Type III environmental declarations present quantified environmental information on the life cycle of a product
to enable comparisons between products fulfilling the same function. Such declarations

• are provided by one or more organizations,
• are based on independently verified life cycle assessment (LCA) data, life cycle inventory analysis (LCI)
  data or information modules in accordance with the ISO 14040 series of standards and, where relevant,
  additional environmental information,
• are developed using predetermined parameters, and
• are subject to the administration of a programme operator, such as a company or a group of companies,
  industrial sector or trade association, public authorities or agencies, or an independent scientific body or
  other organization.

Type III environmental declarations as described in this International Standard are primarily intended for use
in business-to-business communication, but their use in business-to-consumer communication is not
precluded. It is recognized that a developer of a Type III environmental declaration cannot precisely determine
the audience. However, it is important to consider the information needs of different purchaser or user groups,
for instance large businesses, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), public procurement agencies and
consumers. Those responsible for developing Type III environmental declarations and programmes based on
this International Standard will need to pay due attention to the level of awareness of the target audience.

In programmes based on this International Standard, the organization making the declaration will be required
to ensure that data are independently verified either internally or externally. This could, but does not
necessarily, mean third-party verification except in the case of business-to-consumer declarations. ISO
provides a general definition for “certification” (procedure by which a third party gives written assurance that a
product or process conforms to specified requirements). Nevertheless, “certification” is understood and
conducted differently in different regions. To avoid confusion, this International Standard uses the term “thirdparty verification” instead of “certification”.

Harmonization of general programme instructions and particularly product category rules (PCR) are
encouraged between programmes to meet the principle of comparability. This includes mutual recognition of
rules with respect to PCR development, PCR review and verification procedures, administrative procedures
and declaration format. To ensure comparability, programme operators are encouraged to work cooperatively
to achieve harmonization of the programmes and to develop mutual recognition agreements.

NOTE: In the practice of developing Type III environmental declarations, programmes or their declarations are
referred to by various names such as Eco-Leaf, eco-profile, environmental declaration of product, environmental product declaration (EPD) and environmental profile.