EmpCo and B2B stores

Wholesale only on Shopify: do the EU green-claims rules apply to B2B pages?

Direct answer. The EU’s 2024 green-claims changes (Directive (EU) 2024/825) amend the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, which applies to business-to-consumer practices, so a store that sells only to other businesses is outside its Annex I bans. A store that also sells to consumers has to meet the rules on every page a consumer can reach, and misleading claims aimed at other traders can still fall under the Misleading Advertising Directive (2006/114/EC).

Green Claims Guard (Shopify App Store) flags green-claim wording and names the exact provision it cites. This page is about a scoping question that comes before any scan: which of your pages are consumer pages. The app does not decide your audience or whether a claim is lawful, and this page is not legal advice.

Related: CLPLens — Hazard pictograms on the product page, not only the parcel.

Free check first: Green claim wording self-check runs in your browser and sends nothing. Paste product copy and see which environmental wording to review.

Install Green Claims Guard

Write a review

Which directive covers whom

The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC) says in Article 3(1) that it applies to “unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices”. Directive (EU) 2024/825 adds the new green-claims rules to it, including the Annex I list of practices that are always unfair from 27 September 2026.

The Misleading Advertising Directive (2006/114/EC) has a different purpose. Article 1 says it is to “protect traders against misleading advertising”, and Article 3 lists the features of goods a court looks at, including their composition and method of manufacture. It does not carry the 2024 Annex I bans.

Sources: Directive 2005/29/EC, Directive 2006/114/EC, Directive (EU) 2024/825 on EUR-Lex.

A wholesale tier does not make a store B2B only

The consumer rules attach to the practice, not to the store label. A public product page that a shopper can reach is a consumer-facing page even if you built it for trade buyers. A page behind a trade login that only business customers can open is a different case, and the audience test is yours to document.

National law can go beyond the directive. Check how the Member States you sell into transposed both directives before you rely on a B2B exemption.

Install Green Claims Guard → scan the public pages → review the cited provision

Sort your pages by audience

List every page that carries environmental wording: product pages, collections, About, announcement bar, wholesale landing pages, line sheets and PDFs you link from the store.
Mark each page as consumer-reachable or trade-only. If a trade page is public, treat it as consumer-reachable.
For consumer-reachable pages, run the generic-claim, offset and label checks on the wording.
For trade-only pages, keep any environmental statement supportable anyway, because misleading advertising between traders is still regulated.
Write down the date and the audience call for each page.

Install Green Claims Guard and sort your pages by audience

Run the scan on the pages that matter

Green Claims Guard scans product copy and names the provision a flagged phrase cites. Start with the consumer-reachable pages from your list and review each flag yourself. For the rules the scan is built around, see the generic green claims ban and carbon-neutral and offset claims.

Install Green Claims Guard → rewrite flagged wording

Keep proof for the claims you keep

A claim you keep on any page, trade or consumer, is easier to defend with dated evidence. See dated evidence records for a way to organise it.

Install Green Claims Guard, then re-scan

What this page is not

Not legal advice or a ruling on whether your store is B2B only.
Not a check of national transposition rules in each Member State.
Not a substitute for judging who can actually reach each page.

Not legal advice. Re-check the cited law and the current app page before you rely on this page.

Install Green Claims Guard on the Shopify App Store