The Committee on Guidelines for Food Advertising to Children, which is a public-private partnership comprising of stakeholders from the Ministry of Health, the Health Promotion Board ('HPB'), the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore ('ASAS') as well as media representatives has issued new 'Guidelines for Food Advertising to Children' ('Guidelines') aimed at reducing children's exposure to advertisements relating to food and beverages which are high in fat, sugar and salt content. The Guidelines will be administered by the ASAS, and will come into effect from 1 January 2015.
Advertisers will need to ensure compliance with the Guidelines irrespective of the media platform through which the said advertisements are disseminated. Some of the key principles set out in the Guidelines are as follows:
A. Placement
The Guidelines must be complied with irrespective of whether the key target audience of the medium is children or not.
B. Content of the Advertisement
The Guidelines must be complied with irrespective of whether the advertising tools and techniques used are designed to appeal specifically to children or not, subject to certain exceptions. Some of the exceptions are the product itself, the packaging; and the display in store or point of sale.
C. Common Nutrition Criteria
All food and beverage products marketed and/ or sold in Singapore must fulfill the requirements set out in the Common Nutrition Criteria ('CNC') endorsed by the HPB. The CNC is a framework to assist stakeholders to determine which food and beverage products can be advertised to children. The CNC applies to both packaged food and food-related services.
D. General Principles
Some of the general principles set out in the Guidelines are as follows: Marketing communication should not encourage or promote unhealthy eating or drinking habits; they should not actively encourage children to eat excessively or to replace main meals with confectionary or snack food; they should not urge children to buy the food or beverage via high-pressure and hard sell techniques; and they should not feature prices with words such as 'only' or 'just.'
Advertisers of food and beverage products in Singapore will need to comply with the requirements, obtain a CNC Compliance Certificate and provide it to media owner. Where a certificate is not provided, media owners should not to place those advertisements in their media channels. The ASAS will monitor compliance of the said requirements through complaints filed by third parties, and through ex-post facto compliance monitoring. Penalties for non-compliance will apply.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
