us companies operating in Europe have rejected a plan to introduce lower sales tax rates on ecolabelled products, saying it is "backward looking and innovation stifling.' Tax incentives for ecofriendly products were one of the many provisions of the European Commission's ( ec ) green plan on integrated product policy. The European Union Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce alleged that the plan "encourages manufacturers to focus on present solutions rather than searching for quantum leap improvements in their products.' According to the members of the committee, instead of introducing such plans, ec should introduce flexibility in the assessment of the environmental quality of products. " ec 's intention to encourage ecofriendly products by influencing public purchasing decisions could run counter to global procurement rules,' asserted the committee. The members of the committee include 140 of the largest companies of the us , such as Alcoa, Boeing, Disney, ibm , Kodak and Procter & Gamble.