Philippines: Law Banning Advertising of Tobacco Products in the Media Will Begin June 2007 [03/09-1]
Excerpts from: Tobacco companies are prepared
The impending approval of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Tobacco Act has many implications on the marketing, advertising and promotional activities of tobacco companies.
The law orders a gradual ban of advertising and promotional activities such that by Jan. 1, 2007, a complete ban on advertising on television and radio will take effect.
The ban on cinema and outdoor advertising starts on July 1, 2007, and beginning July 1, 2008, all forms of advertising in mass media is prohibited, except inside the premises of point-of-sales retail establishments. It also coincides with the ban on sponsorships.
The International Marketing Standards (IMS) set down detailed guidance on all aspects of tobacco marketing, from print, billboards and electronic media to promotional events, packaging and sponsorship.
It sets a benchmark for the entire industry in controlling the use and distribution of marketing tools: from prohibiting product placement in film and television through banning billboard advertising near youth environments such as schools to restricting sponsorship and advertising at events.
The group believes that the IMS will have a real impact in many parts of the world where restrictions on tobacco marketing are lower, for example, than in the United Kingdom or Western Europe.
The IMS is a voluntary agreement, open to all manufacturers and distributors of tobacco products and the group is inviting more tobacco companies to subscribe.
The group aims to work with regulators to see them incorporated into laws or agreements that ensure effective local implementation.
Other tobacco companies that have subscribed to the IMS are Compania Industrial de Tabacos, S. A., Grupo Iberoamericano de Fomento S. A., Papastratos, and the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly
Central to the IMS is the commitment of ensuring that no marketing activity is directed to the youth.
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