Bulgaria's Environment Ministry is organising three seminars on eco-labeling, which are free of charge and invite all interested companies to attend. The seminars will be held at the Rodina hotel in Sofia during the week of October 20-24.

The first seminar, on October 20, is for companies from the tourism industry, the second session on October 22 is for firms from the paper industry and the third seminar on October 24 is for enterprises producing electrical appliances and devices.

The seminars are co-organised by the ministry and Time Foundation, aiming to present to Bulgarian businesses the procedure for obtaining the unified European environmental certificate, which so far is given for industries in the sectors cleaning detergents, electrical devices, paper product, products for the house and garden, clothes, shoes, lubricants, do-it-yourself materials, such as hard cased floors, pains and polishes and furniture, as well as for companies from the tourism industry.

Environmental labeling is applied in many European countries. Leader in number of certified tourism facilities is Italy, while Germany and France are also among the leaders in any kind of products with the eco-labels.

The procedure to obtain such certificate in Bulgaria lasts about 45 days but in advance the company should prepare all necessary documents to prove that its production is within certain norms. Documents are filed with the Environment Ministry, which is the further adviser of the company in case it needs to improve some parts of its production. By now only few local companies have applied for this label in Bulgaria, which have business in the tourism sector, produce spring-beds or cleaning detergents.

The price of eco-label is formed as a per cent of the company's annual turnover. The price of the application form reaches between 300 and 1300 euro, while the label itself may cost from 500 to 25 000 euro.