Italy’s Implementation of the EU Anti-Greenwashing Directive Is Now Law: What Changes from September 27, 2026

Legislative Decree No. 30/2026, published in the Official Gazette on March 9, 2026, transposes Directive (EU) 2024/825 into Italian law. For food & beverage brands communicating sustainability, the rules are changing substantially.

On March 9, 2026, Legislative Decree No. 30 of February 20, 2026 was published in the Official Gazette, transposing Directive (EU) 2024/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council into Italian law, the so-called anti-greenwashing directive.

The decree amends the Italian Consumer Code (Legislative Decree 206/2005) by introducing new definitions, new information requirements and, above all, explicit new prohibitions on environmental claims made to consumers. The new provisions will apply from September 27, 2026.

What the new law prohibits

For companies operating across agri-food supply chains, the decree introduces four particularly significant changes:

1. Ban on generic environmental claims.
   It is prohibited to make generic environmental claims — terms such as “eco,” “green,” “sustainable,” or “environmentally friendly” — without being able to demonstrate recognized environmental excellence that is relevant to the specific claim.
2. No climate claims based solely on offsetting.
   It is prohibited to state that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive environmental impact in terms of CO₂ emissions if that claim is based exclusively on carbon offsetting. “Carbon neutrality” statements built solely on carbon credits are no longer admissible.
3. Ban on extending a claim to the entire product or company.
   It is not permissible to make a claim about an entire product or the whole company when the environmental characteristic concerns only one specific aspect. A product cannot be presented as “sustainable” if, for example, only its packaging is.
4. Stricter requirements for future environmental claims.
   Future environmental claims, including decarbonisation commitments, net zero targets and similar pledges, must be supported by an implementation plan with measurable objectives, clear deadlines, and periodic verification by an independent third party whose conclusions are accessible to consumers.

The certification requirement

The new rules also introduce a clear framework for sustainability labels: any voluntary label promoting the environmental or social characteristics of a product must be based on a recognized certification scheme, with public criteria, independent monitoring and procedures in place for cases of non-compliance. Self-created labels without third-party certification become an unfair commercial practice.

Why this matters for agri-food supply chains

Coffee, cocoa, olive oil and wine, the sectors that have invested most heavily in sustainability communication in recent years, are among the most exposed. Claims relating to traceable origin, sustainable production or climate neutrality are now widespread on packaging and across marketing campaigns. Under Legislative Decree No. 30/2026, these statements must be supported by verifiable supply chain data, not just by self-declarations or internal reports.

This is precisely where blockchain traceability becomes a compliance tool, not just a point of differentiation: data recorded immutably across the entire production chain provides the evidentiary basis required by the new law to substantiate any environmental claim.

Next steps

Companies have around six months to prepare. A good starting point is an audit of the commercial communications currently in use, website, packaging and sales materials, to identify which claims may be at risk and which supply chain data is already available to support them.

Learn more about how Trusty helps agri-food companies comply with the new rules — CONTACT US

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