Chapter 1 — full chapter
1.3.3. Trust, authentication and protection against greenwashing
Transparency is only valuable if buyers believe it, and here the passport does double duty.
First, it supports authentication: verifiable proof that a product is genuine. In the Certilogo survey, authentication was the single most requested feature, cited by 56% of respondents, ahead of care instructions (45%) and material composition (44%). For SMEs whose designs are easily copied, a tamper-resistant digital identity protects both brand reputation and resale value.
Second, the passport helps companies make sustainability claims that regulators and consumers will accept. Under the EU’s tightening rules on environmental claims, vague or unsubstantiated ‘green’ messaging is increasingly risky; a passport backed by real supply-chain data lets a brand substantiate what it says. The same research found that fear of counterfeiting (29%) and concerns about greenwashing (22%), alongside cost (37%), are among the main reasons shoppers hesitate to buy sustainable clothing, precisely the doubts that verified passport data can ease. The Trace4Value pilot run by GS1 Sweden and TrusTrace, in which more than 3,000 Kappahl and Marimekko garments carried consumer-facing QR codes linking to information on materials, suppliers and circularity, shows that even mainstream, mid-market ranges can deliver this kind of credible transparency in practice.