The labelling of a product, under a government-backed but voluntary scheme, with information (often a label or logo) that identifies the product as produced in an environmentally sustainable way. Involves inspection and certification of compliance by independent monitors. The European Union operates an eco-label scheme based on analysis of the environmental impact of a product over its entire life-cycle, including packaging, using EC-wide criteria. A myriad of other schemes exist around the world, including company labels and NGO labels. In the WTO Trade and Environment Committee discussions, a key issue is whether and how the world trade rules can incorporate criteria for use of eco-labels so that they do not get used to restrict trade opportunities for poorer countries which may lack resources to comply with eco-label requirements in richer countries.