Food and Soft Drinks

 

Uploaded November 2018.

See individual countries for updates.

Poland

A. Overview

Sector

SECTION A OVERVIEW

 

Updates

RR review March 2020

All RR links replaced May 2020

Delegated regs amends Sept 2020

EU links refreshed March 2021

EU Pledge enhanced July 2021

Links reviewed/ refereshed Dec 2021

Advertising of dietary supplements:

the more charges, the harsher the penalty?

Above courtesy of TKP/ Lex July 27, 2022

Food supplements news Sept 2022 CMS

Links refreshed October 2022
UCPA amendment December 2022 EN

Feeding us Greenwash. March 2023 

Above from Changing Markets Foundation

Reducing the marketing of unhealthy foods to children

Above from EU-funded Best-Remap April 2023

UOKIK fines include supplement co. August 2023

Food & Beverage Ad Regulation in EMEA (EN)

Sp, Port, Israel, Nig, Ken. GALA Oct 25, 2023

AV recording of above here (EN)

Reviewed Nov 2023; 2 links renewed

RR working group on dietary supplements

Above established Jan 2024, reports mid year

Code to include advertising for supplements

Above from CMS June 4, 2024 (EN)

Code anticipated by RR December 2024

 

EU NEWS/ ISSUES

 

EASA October 2024 update Commission food issues 

EASA July 2024 update Commission food issues

 

WHO

 

WHO recommends stronger policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing. 3 July, 2023 

New WHO AI tool invites people to counter online promotion of unhealthy products23 June, 2023

Extract from EASA's policy newsletter re above and other EU developments. August 2023

 

SCOPE AND CONTEXT

 

‘Food’ is not defined in the self-regulatory codes in Poland; the definition from EU Regulation 178/2002 is ‘any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans. ‘Food’ includes soft drinks, chewing gum and any substance, including water, intentionally incorporated into the food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment.’ The Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) Rada Reklamy (EN) defines advertising as: ‘the message containing in particular information or a statement, especially made for a fee or remunerated otherwise, accompanying anybody’s activity which aims to increase the sale of products, to obtain another form of using the products, or to obtain another effect, desired by the advertiser. Advertising shall also include sales promotion, offers intended to the recipients in the form of direct marketing, or sponsorship.’ More in the code linked below. Poland is a member of the EU, making it subject to European food regulations, of which there are plenty.

 

SELF-REGULATION: FOOD ADVERTISING AND CHILDREN

 

The self-regulatory rules in Poland are in the form of the Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) and the attendant Standards of Food Advertising Aimed at Children Under 12 in Appendix 2. These rules prohibit food advertising to children unless products meet specified nutritional criteria defined in Appendix 2a of the code. The Polish Food Industry Federation PFPZ worked with Rada Reklamy in developing this code, which essentially replicates the EU Pledge (see below) and its nutritional specifications. Details in the following content section B below.

 

ICC AND THE EU

 

The ICC (the International Chamber of Commerce, whose Advertising and Marketing Communications Code underpins much of self-regulation worldwide), publishes a Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communications (EN 2019). This is a sound ‘first base’ framework for international campaigns in this sector. The EU Code of Conduct on Responsible Food business and Marketing Practices of July 2021 is not focused on marcoms but you should probably be aware of its existence; its purpose is 'to unite behind a common aspirational path towards sustainable food systems.' Reference is made to 'responsible food marketing and advertising practices, e.g. by adhering to self- and co-regulatory initiatives and standards.' It is a voluntary code.

 

THE EU/ POLISH PLEDGE

 

The EU Pledge, enhanced July 2021 effective January 2022, is a voluntary initiative by leading Food and Beverage companies, accounting for over 80% of food and soft drink advertising expenditure in the EU, to change food and soft drink advertising to children under the age of thirteen in the European Union. It consists of three main commitments:

 

 

The EU Pledge implementation guidance, in detail and by medium, is here. The Pledge is consistent with the International Food & Beverage Alliance (IFBA)’s 2021 Global Responsible Marketing policy

 

EU REGULATIONS

 

As an EU member state, Poland is subject to the regulatory forces from Brussels, significant in Food and Drink and in some cases (Regulations, versus Directives) directly applicable:

 

  • Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods. The rules apply to nutrition claims (such as ‘low fat’, ‘high fibre’) and to health claims. The appendix carries a list of approved nutrition claims and conditions applying to them;
  • Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers; this is largely about labelling, but includes a number of broad marcoms provisions relating to misleadingness; detail in the Content Section below;
  • Regulation 432/2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods, other than those referring to the reduction of disease risk and to children’s development and health.

 

The EU Register is a single source of all permitted Health and Nutrition Claims

 

Foods for Specific Groups

 

Regulation 609/2013 on Foods for Specific Groups (FSG Reg), which applied uniformly across the EU from 20 July 2016, sets general compositional and information requirements for four specific categories of food intended for 'vulnerable' groups of consumers. These food groups were formerly classified as 'Foodstuffs intended for particular nutritional uses' (so-called 'Parnuts') and regulated under Framework Directive 2009/39/EC, and a series of more specific Directives. The four groups and their specific Directives are:

 

Infant formulae and follow-on formulae: Directive 2006/141/EC 
Processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children: Directive 2006/125/EC 
 Dietary foods for special medical purposes: Directive 1999/21/EC 
 Foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction: Directive 96/8/EC

 

The FSG Regulation repealed and replaced the Framework Directive, and in so doing abolished the 'Parnuts' concept. The rules from the Directives above remain (mostly) applicable until new rules in the form of 'Delegated Acts' have replaced them. This has happened in the case of Infant formulae and follow-on formulae via Delegated Regulation 2016/127 which applied from 22 February 2020 (except in respect of infant formula and follow-on formula manufactured from protein hydrolysates, to which it applied from 22 February 2021). This whole complex territory is expressed as simply as we can manage here. Key provisions from all of the above Regulations and Directives are set out in the Content Section B below.

 

Food supplements

 

See under updates above for new code 

 

Directive 2002/46/EC on Food Supplements prohibits in labelling, presentation and advertising the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, or referring to such properties (Art. 6/2), nor may there be any mention stating or implying that a balanced and varied diet cannot provide appropriate quantities of nutrients in general (Art. 7). This element of the Directive is transposed by Article 27/5 of the Polish Act on Food Safety and Nutrition (PO). See commentary and reference to case law from the December 2021 TKP newsletter (p.17) Advertising of Dietary Supplements. This piece Advertising food supplements - are we in for a revolution? from CMS/ Lex September 2022 reports 'the government is planning changes concerning the presentation and advertising of food supplements.'

 

 

CHANNEL RULES FOR FOOD AND SOFT DRINKS

 

The Broadcasting Act (EN) of 1992, as amended, requires in article 16b (para. 3a) that ‘Children’s programmes shall not be accompanied by commercial communications for foods or soft drinks containing ingredients excessive intakes of which in the everyday diet are not recommended’. That rule applies to broadcast media (TV, Radio, VOD) only – compliance of which is monitored by the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiTKrajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji. Eight of the largest broadcasters of TV programmes in Poland have signed a voluntary agreement (EN / PO) in which they have pledged not to accompany children’s programmes with commercials for so-called "unhealthy foods". The aim of the agreement is to ensure the protection of minors, under article 16b. paragraphs 3a and 3b of the Broadcasting Act. In addition, appendix 2 of the Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) - which applies to all media - prohibits advertising to children under 12 unless the products in question meet the nutritional criteria shown in appendix 2a, which also sets out some of the 'unhealthy foods' in question. If that’s not enough, the EU Pledge referenced earlier requires the avoidance of child audiences (U12) unless Foods meet the Pledge nutrition criteria. See channel section C below for detailed rules by medium. An important recent influence in channel, albeit applicable to all sectors and not just food, is the UOKIK Recommendations Influencer Advertising (EN) announced 26/9/22. The link is to UOKIK news story, full recommendations here (EN) and GALA/ Lex commentary here.

 

 

GENERAL RULES  

 

It's important that the rules for all product sectors, shown below under the General tab, are also understood; adjudications against food and soft drink advertising may well come from general misleadingness or taste and decency rules, for example. The principal source of rules for all advertising content is the RR Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN), also linked above. Principal legislation is the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)which implements the UCP Directive 2005/29/EC and its amending Directive 2019/2161 and applies to B2C practices. Full information is below, under the General tab.

 

 

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Read more

General

SECTION A OVERVIEW

 

Updates since July 2022 (slimmed)

Commission guidance reduced prices 

Financial Penalties Upon Influencers July 2022

UOKIK Recommendations Influencer Advertising (EN)

Above 26/9/2022

UOKIK Tool for tagging ads; Oct 2022

More Influencer guidance from UOKIK (EN)

Wardyński & Partners/ Lex November 3, 2022

EU green claims regulation December 2022

Omnibus Directive implementation; e-commerce rules

Above from Taylor Wessing December 2022

Unfair Competition - How To Deal With It? Part 3

Squire Patton Boggs March 28, 2023

The DSA in Poland and EU June 7, 2023 

'Surreptitious' advertising fined by UOKIK (EN)

Above EN from UOKIK 28 August, 2023

Links reviewed Nov 2023; 2 links renewed

Regulatory focus on greenwashing

Osborne Clarke April 18, 2024

DLA Piper Environmental Advertising Claims Guide

Above from August 7, 2024 includes Poland

New ICC Code September 19 2024 (EN)

 

INFLUENCER IDENTIFICATION 

 

UOKIK: Omnibus Directive, the regulation of influencer marketing and dark patterns

Osborne Clarke September 26, 2023/ Lex

Polish regulator zeros in on influencers - 2022-2023 developments in a nutshell. Bird & Bird LLP/ Lex Sept 22, 2023

And a further follow-up is news from Osborne Clarke/ Lex September 5, 2023 of heavy fines handed out to transgressors

A follow-up from UOKIK to the below is the announcement Oct 2022 (EN) of a new AR tool for tagging ads

UOKIK Recommendations Influencer Advertising (EN) announced 26/9/22

Above is link to UOKIK news story, full recommendations here (EN) and GALA/ Lex commentary here (EN)

 

UOKIK, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, announced October 2021 an investigation into the activities of Influencers on social media platforms. Their research 'shows that a lot of commercial content on influencer profiles on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook or other social media sites is not labelled as advertising at all. Other is marked insufficiently, e.g. only by the hashtag #ad, which may be incomprehensible to Polish internet users.' New guidelines are threatened and fines for those transgressing. ‘We want to introduce order to the market of sponsored content in social media.’ The result of UOKIK's intervention is reported here, a July 2022 piece from GALA/ Mondaq which sets out how six decisions have been made and penalties applied to Influencers amounting to 30,000 euros, notwithstanding the right of appeal. See announcement above.

 

SELF-REGULATION

 

The Polish Self-Regulatory Organisation Rada Reklamy (RR) Code of Ethics in Advertising (PO; RR EN) is based on the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (ICC Code) and covers all advertising except for social (non-profit) and political campaigns. The Polish Direct Marketing Association SMB also administer a Code of Ethics (PO) and manage the Robinson List. The Code of Good Practice in Mobile Advertising PO / EN, assembled by mobile operators in conjunction with IAB Poland, sets out rules for SMS/MMS/wap-push, as well as e.g. banner ads on mobile pages. 

 

MARCOMS CONTENT LEGISLATION 

 

The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices POEN (inc. 2022 amends) implements the UCP Directive 2005/29/EC and applies to B2C practices. The Unfair Competition Act UCA PO / EN (note on translation here) protects businesses from acts of unfair competition (art. 3.1), implementing the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive 2006/114/EC. In broadcast, the key Broadcasting Act is shown below under channel legislation. This act includes some content as well as placement rules, the former of which are spelt out in our following section B and also found here in English. Article 16b reflects the content rules established in the AVMS Directive related to the protection of minors, discrimination, and e.g. the 'encouragement of behaviour prejudicial to health, safety or environmental protection.' This article from GALA/ Mondaq in February 2022 Controversial Advertising sets out the legislative backdrop in the context of some Polish brands taking a stance on some of the higher profile social issues.

 

The Law on Counteracting Unfair Market Practices was amended by the Act of December 1, 2022 amending the Act on consumer rights and certain other acts (PO) and effective January 1, 2023. This act transposed into the UCPA's articles 5, 6 and 7 requirements of Directive 2019/2161 relating to search rankings, consumer reviews and the 'internationalisation' of campaigns Directive's clause prohibits any marketing of a good, in one Member State, as being identical to a good marketed in other Member States, while that good has significantly different composition or characteristics, unless justified by legitimate and objective factors. Not all specific to marketing communications, but significant context. The UCPA's consolidated text is here in Polish. There's a helpful December 2022 piece from Taylor Wessing on the implementation in English and Polish here and A new reality dawns for Polish e-commerce from Osborne Clarke/ Lex January 2023 covers similar territory but adds some UOKIK investigations and EU work. Penalties for companies publishing false reviews from Bird&Bird/ Lex Jan 2023 shows the impact of the new legislation as applied by UOKIK.

 

Channel legislation

 

Electronic communications and privacy

Polish DPA bans Meta from processing personal data
of two public figures for displaying deepfake ads

Traple Konarski Podrecki & Partners October 9, 2024

Privacy Sandbox news and updates

Q&A: protecting privacy and confidentiality in Poland
SKP Ślusarek Kubiak Pieczyk June 10, 2024

 

The Telecommunications Act 2004 PO / EN implements the ‘Cookie Directive’ 2009/136/EC; the new Personal Data Protection Act of May 10th 2018 PO / EN (link temporarily bust) implements/ recognises the GDPR and its accompanying Directive 2016/680. The Data Protection Authority is UODO;  their Ten Tips on GDPR are here (EN), albeit written for the consumer. The Law on Providing Services by Electronic Means 2002 (LPSEM) PO / EN implements the e-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC and elements of the e-Privacy Directive 2002/58/EC. These three national Acts, with the GDPR, form the core legislation in the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy. The rules impose information obligations on data controllers, confer the right to opt out of direct marketing, and regulate unsolicited marcoms via different media channels: the opt-in rule generally applies, with the exception of direct postal mail. The European Data Protection Board published April 2021 Guidelines 8/2020 on the targeting of social media users (EN). Rules by channel in our following section C.

 

Broadcasting/ AV

The Broadcasting Act of 29 December 1992 PO / EN (GRS EN), incorporating rules from the AVMS Directive 2010/13/EU, regulates advertising, teleshopping, PP, and sponsorship on TV, Radio, and VOD. The Amend to the Broadcasting Act of 11th August 2021 (PO) transposing Directive 2018/1808 came into force primarily on November 1st 2021. For our purposes, the most significant aspects of the amend which, broadly, extends the scope of the AVMSD online, are requirements for video-sharing platforms, set out here by Hogan Lovells/ Lexology. This Liability Of Video-Sharing Platform Providers Under The New Rules November 2021 from GALA/ Mondaq lifts the bonnet on this legislation. The regulatory authority is The National Broadcasting Council KKRiT

 

SPECIFIC CLAIM AREAS
Environmental claims

 

The end of greenwashing in the EU?
Wardyński & Partners May 9, 2024

Code of ethics in advertising expanded (PL) March 1, 2023

Proposal for a Directive on Green Claims. March 22, 2023

European Commission press release on the above here 

Helpful summary and commentary here from GALA/Lex also March 22

 

The RR Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) includes Chapter V Advertisements Containing Ecological Information, closely aligned with Chapter D Environmental Claims from the ICC’s Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN) and updated/ expanded March 2023. Additional guidance on the use of environmental claims can be found in the ICC Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications (November 2021). Claims may be assessed against the Unfair Commercial Practices Act UCPA (referenced above); refer to Commission Guidance on application of the UCPD (December 2021) Section 4.1.1. on environmental claims. The WFA launched their Planet Pledge in April 2021 and Global Guidance on Environmental Claims April 2022. On 7 October 2021, Google launched a policy for Google advertisers, publishers and YT creators that prohibits ads/ monetization for content that contradicts consensus around climate change; more hereSee also Rada Reklamy's Green Project. This January 2023 piece Greenwashing: How to communicate without misleading? from Wardyński & Partners/ Lex covers the activity of the Polish regulator (UOKIK) and some practical guidance. DLA Piper's August 2024 Environmental Advertising Claims Guide includes Poland in its comprehensive coverage.

 

Pricing

 

Pricing in ads is often a source of complaint, consumer & competitor, & sometimes litigation. Best to check prices in ads, especially new ads, with legal advisors

 

ECJ '30 day' judgement Aldi promotional pricing Sept 24, 2024

The case is here; Pinsent Oct 4 commentary here (EN)

 

There are some new requirements on the transposition of Directive 2019/2161/EU, known as the Omnibus Directive, which makes a number of amends to Directives 98/6/EC, 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU. Article 2 of the Directive, introducing article 6a into Directive 98/6/EC (the Product Pricing Directive) covers price reduction 'announcements’, which includes advertising. This September 2021 article from GALA/ Mondaq set out the implications for Polish law. Commission guidance on the article 6a is here. Transposition effective January 1, 2023 happened via the Act of December 1, 2022 amending the Act on consumer rights and certain other acts (PO). Those 'certain other acts' include the Law of 9th May 2014 on Information on Prices of Goods and Services PO; article 4 of that act is replaced by new provisions which reflect the directive's requirements to list the lowest price that was applied during the 30-day period before a reduction was introduced, in addition to the new price; consolidated text in Polish is here.

 

The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices includes a number of references to pricing in B2C communications, e.g. in relation to ‘bait and switch' advertising; see articles 7.5 and 7.6 UCPA (EN inc. 2022 amends). The information obligations under article 6.4 UCPA when advertising constitutes an ‘invitation to purchase’ are also relevant. Rada Reklamy’s Code of Ethics in Advertising contains provisions relating to price: articles 45 Direct marketing; 51 Sales promotions; 11.4 Comparative advertising; 10.1.b Misleading advertising. Details in our following section B.

CJEU case 

 

The CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) judgement in the 2016 Citroën/ZLW case ruled that the final price including VAT and all other price components must be stated, applying Product Price Directive 98/6/EC, which confirms that the selling price should include VAT and Excise Tax. 

 

Children

 

See our home page for the sector in full, and point 1.3 in the following content section B

 

In September 2019 the Children’s Protection Charter was established under the auspices of Rada Reklamy, the Self-Regulatory Organisation. The charter, applicable to signatories, includes rules on e.g. children in the making of commercials. It's set out under Appendix 3 of the Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN), which also carries rules for marcoms to children and young people under Chapter IV.

 

 

 

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International

SECTION A OVERVIEW

 

Updates since Nov 2022 (slimmed)
 

DLA Piper Global Influencer guide 

Coke's aspirational claims are not actionable

FKK&S/ Lex November 20, 2022

Meta’s Ad Practices Ruled Illegal Under E.U. Law. Jan

Proposal for a Directive on Green Claims

Cheat sheet EU Digital Acts April 23, 2023

Green Initiatives mainly in Europe April 2023

Our assembly of some key EU 'green' requirements

A brief guide to EU institutions. April 25, 2023

Self-regulation globally. FKK&S April 27, 2023

EASA Influencer Disclosure pan-Europe July 2023

EU Influencer Legal Hub. Posted October 2023

IAB Cookie Readiness report February 2024

CJEU rules on IAB's TCF. Hunton March 8, 2024

Council Influencer conclusions May 14, 2024

Bird & Bird on the above May 31, 2024

EASA Policy Newsletter May 21 2024 Topics Influencers, airlines greenwashing, ADR, EU elections 

IAB Europe commitments, policy principles 2024-29

Osborne Clarke Aug 29 commentary on above here 

IMCO September 2024 newsletter Sept 30, 2024

Emerging Advertising Law Issues in Asia Pacific 

GALA September 24, 2024 (Aus, India, Japan, NZ)

Quarterly report from Global Advocate Nov 22, 2024 Markets UK, France, Neths, China, EU

EASA Policy Newsletter November 22, 2024 Topics Health/alcohol/ WHO, Digital agenda, AVMSD & minors, Online harm, AI

* Recommended read 

New ICC Code September 19, 2024

Press release here and key changes here 

 French trans November 7, 2024, SW here

 

ISSUES/ NEWS/ COMMENTARY

 

EU to re-open, merge CSRD, CS3D & Taxonomy 

REP November 20, 2024

TEMU challenged by CPC network (FR)

EC Digital Fitness Check published Oct 3, 2024

Lewis Silkin on above here (scroll down)

Recycling claims mislead consumers:

legal analysis for EU & UK markets Client Earth Oct 2, 2024

 

AI

The AI Convention CSC Sept 12, 2024 here

EASA newsletter update AI legislation Aug 2024

AI is Everywhere - What about advertising?
BBB National Programs Aug 7, 2024 (audio)

AI Global Regulatory Update. Eversheds Sutherland Feb 22, 2024

EU AI Act: first regulation on artificial intelligence. June 2023

Visual summary of the EU's AI Act's risk levels here 

 

ENVIRONMENTAL CLAIMS/ INFORMATION/ DD

 

 Greenwashing Regulations in the Fashion Industry
White & Case Nov 25, 2024. FR, UK, US, DE, AUS

Greenwashing in the EU, France and the UK 

Addleshaw Goddard/ Lex November 11, 2024

 Hague Court of Appeal: Shell win 2nd round v Milieudefensie
Burges Salmon November 14, 2024 (see below)

Stichting Milieudefensie v. Shell. Freshfields November 6, 2024

The Hague becomes world’s first city to pass law banning fossil fuel-related ads

The UK Guardian September 13, 2024

 

There's an almost constant barrage of new and developing rules and regulations all around the world on this issue and especially in Europe, which is where we start. We think it's helpful first to distinguish between 'consumer' rules i.e. those that apply to business-to-consumer communications, and 'corporate' rules, which are those that apply to corporate 'ESG' reporting and financial services sector to investors, though the former ad rules will also apply to the financial sector when they advertise (the corporate reporting and due diligence rules don't per se apply in advertising, but we include them later so as to complete 'the green picture'). Anyway, consumer rules first as that's where most of our interests lie. In Europe, you need to be aware in particular of two directives driving the commercial communications elements of the 'Green deal' agenda:

 

1. The 'Empco' Directive 2024/825, full title and directive here, which was in force from March 2024, meaning that member states have until September 2026 to implement. Basically, and for our purposes, the Directive is an amendment of the seminal UCPD 2005/29/EC which forms the cornerstone of consumer protection rules in Europe. New environmentally-specific clauses are added to the 'blacklist' and e.g self-certification is banned. There's a good summary here from Taylor Wessing. Clauses are placed in our following content section B. 

 

2. The Green Claims Directive. The Commission pages on the proposed new law, which has new requirements for substantiation and verification of green claims, are here. The European Parliament is expected to reach final agreement before the end of 2024; there's likely to be an extended implementation period. A good June 2024 summary here from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and EASA's update, also June 2024, here.

 

More lawyer commentary

 

Navigating the increasing scrutiny of green claims
Slaughter and May November 19, 2024. EU, UK. Audio

Standards for Claims of “Carbon Neutral” and “Climate Friendly” 

Formosan Brothers October 4, 2024

UK / EU / International ESG Regulation monthly round-up 
Hogan Lovells 
July 2024 pub'd Aug 9, 2024

Katjes 'Climate Neutral' & Green Claims Globally

Herbert Smith Freehills/ Lex July 10, 2024

 

Corporate & financial reporting and due diligence

 

CSDDD FAQs Proskauer October 4, 2024

FAQs on the implementation of the EU corporate sustainability reporting rules

From the Commission August 7, 2024. Ropes & Gray unpack them here

 

As this aspect of the green deal is not directly ad-related and as there's so much ground to cover, we've linked the information here

This analysis of the four key directives from White & Case July 8, 2024 is helpful in explaining their roles and see also Regulation Across Jurisdictions from Sidley Austin July 17, 2024 

  

INFLUENCER MARKETING 

 

Understanding consumer law when conducting influencer marketing
campaigns in the EU and UK.
BCLP October 7, 2024

 

This is a high profile and somewhat controversial (in regulatory terms) marketing technique that’s deployed right across the world. Most jurisdictions, in Europe at any rate, publish specific rules or guidelines, be they from statutory consumer protection authorities increasingly involved or, more frequently, self-regulatory organisations. The big and consistent issue is obviously identification when a post is an ad, when it's been incentivised in some way; less consistent is the way that authorities require that identification to be made, so check the rules/ guidelines in each country. A number including the US and Canada, Belgium, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Australia and China have been assembled by the admirable DLA Piper in their Global Influencer Guide published 2022. For other international rules/ guidelines see ICPEN's Guidelines for Digital Influencers, which dates back to 2016 and the IAB's 2018 Content & Native Disclosure Good Practice Guidelines. August 7, 2024 GALA discuss ARPP's (French self-reg organisation) Certificate of Responsible Influence here and EASA's (the European self-regulatory network) expansion of that is set out here

 

The European Commission got interested some time ago and has issued various edicts/ hubs/ guidelines, as is its wont:

The Commission publish The Influencer Legal hub 'These resources are for anyone making money through creating social media content.' and 'The information in the Influencer Legal Hub reflects the position of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network which adopted the 5 Key Principles on Social Media Marketing Disclosures.' On May 14, 2024, the EU Council  approved ‘Conclusions on ways to support influencers as online content creators in the EU.’ Bird&Bird on that here June 12.

 

The USA

 

In the US, the key rule maker is the FTC (Federal Trade Commission, a government agency), which issues a number of guidelines, the most important of which are:

 

Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers 

FTC Requirements For Influencers: Guidelines and Rules
Termly Feb 2, 2024 published FTC Requirements For Influencers: Guidelines and Rules,
a good summary by platform

 

In self-regulation, the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) make available a number of cases here; the BBB's ad code is here, clause 30 Testimonials and Endorsements. The key issue, defined by FTC and deployed by NAD, is any 'material connection' between advertiser and influencer and the adequacy of its disclosure, which must be 'clear and conspicuous.' See the US 'general rules' database on this website for more.

 

India 

 

 ASCI's June 2021 Guidelines for Influencer advertising in digital media (link to a downloadable pdf). Additionally, from the CCPA's Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements 2022 (CCPA guidelines): 14. Disclosure of material connection (the same term used by ASCI). 'Where there exists a connection between the endorser and the trader, manufacturer or advertiser of the endorsed product that might materially affect the value or credibility of the endorsement and the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience, such connection shall be fully disclosed in making the endorsement.' In January 2023 the Department of Consumer Affairs, who administer the Consumer Protection Act, issued 'Endorsement know-hows'  on when and how to disclose a 'material relationship.' Commentary from SS Rana/ Lex here. Additional Influencer Guidelines for Health and Wellness Celebrities, Influencers and Virtual Influencers August 10, 2023 by the Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is here. Summary of Influencer rules from Kan & Krishme/ GALA December 7, 2023 is here.

 

1. SELF-REGULATION: GENERAL RULES 
1.1 The ICC Code
 
The ICC Code is in the process of update May 2024. Expected 'second half 2024' :
 
This International sector provides largely self-regulatory rules that apply across several jurisdictions/ countries, so the content is the same under each country and product sector. For the time being, we are largely interpreting 'International' as Europe, though as the service expands, so will this section. The rules are primarily from the ICC, the International Chamber of Commerce, whose Advertising and Marketing Communications Code ('the Code'), the most recent version of which was announced in September 2024, underpins much of self-regulation worldwide.
 
Most countries feature national advertising self-regulatory codes which draw their main principles from the ICC Code, whilst a number of countries apply its provisions directlly - Belgium, Finland and Sweden, for example - so it can be regarded as a solid reflection of the regulatory picture across Europe and beyond. It would be very unlikely that any ICC rule would significantly differ from a specific country or sector clause addressing the same issue, but the latter may have more nuance or cultural context and will, of course, prevail as the principal source of regulation. So you can use these ICC rules in two ways: as a sound 'first pass' if you want a general picture of what you can or can't say across a number of countries, or as a surrogate for, and access to, countries that we don't currently cover and where rules may be inaccessible. The ICC provide several translations of their code (2024 to follow); ICAS, the International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation, list most if not all of the providers of self-regulation around the world. 
 
1.2 Guidance and EASA
 
Where the ICC is the principal source for 'umbrella' rules, another important source, in this case of advice and good practice, is EASA, the European Advertising Standards Alliance, which describes itself as the 'single authoritative voice on advertising self-regulation issues in Europe'. EASA's Best Practice Recommendations (BPRs) are valuable guidance on, for example, the distinction between paid and unpaid communications. These documents are placed and linked in relevant channels within the text in each country or can be found via the earlir llnk.
 
1.3 Structure and scope of the ICC Code

 

The latest ICC Code was published September 18, 2024 

 

The code is structured in two main sections: General Provisions and Chapters. General Provisions sets out fundamental principles and other broad concepts that apply to all marketing in all media. Code chapters apply to specific marketing areas, including Sales Promotions (A) Sponsorship (B) Direct Marketing & Digital Marketing Communications (C) Environmental Claims in Marketing Communications (D) and Teens and Children (E). The Code 'should also be read in conjunction with other current ICC codes, principles and framework interpretations in the area of marketing and advertising':


ICC Guide for Responsible Mobile Marketing Communications

Mobile supplement to the ICC Resource Guide for Self-Regulation of Interest Based Advertising

ICC Framework for Responsible Marketing Communications of Alcohol

ICC Resource Guide for Self-Regulation of Online Behavioural Advertising

ICC Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications (2021)

ICC Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communication

ICC International Code of Direct Selling

 

Key rules are set out in the following content section B and channel section C, as applicable

 

Children

 

  • Article 18 of the General Provisions of the ICC Code (2018) covers children and teens at some length. The new (Sept 2024) code adds a whole new chapter E on Children and Teens as well as articles 20 and 22 under General Provisions and  articles C5 and 17.8 under Chapter C, Data-driven Marketing, Direct Marketing, and Digital Marketing Communications
  • Also worthy of note is the International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN), a network of consumer protection agencies from over 60 countries, who publish Best Practice Principles for Marketing Practices Directed Towards Children Online (June 2020) 
  • On the home page of this website, you'll find a complete children's sector with the rules spelt out country by country 

 

Lawyer commentary 

Kids and Teens Online Safety and Privacy Roundtable

Baker Mckenzie July 26, 2023. Canada UK and USA. Video

EU: Two Key Decisions Highlight Issues When Handling Children's Data

Collyer Bristow/Lex 21 June, 2023

 

1.4 Sector and channel rules 

 

The rules are both 'horizontal', i.e. they apply across product sectors, and the ICC also publish 'vertical' sector-specific framework rules such as those for Alcohol, or Food and Beverages (as linked above). While these rules are referenced in the sections that follow, we don't extract them in full as these product sectors are covered by specific databases on this website. These sector rules in particular need to be read with a) the general rules that apply to all product sectors and b) the specific legislation and self-regulation that frequently surrounds regulation-sensitive sectors. Channel rules from the ICC Code, such as those for OBA, are shown within the relevant sub-heads under our channel section C, together with the applicable European legislation.

 

2. THE LAW
European Regulations and Directives

 

 
We draw extensively on European directives and their national implementation in the sector and general rules shown elsewhere on this website. In this international context, we show only the most immediately relevant directives and a brief extract of their rules, together with links to EU Regulations which apply directly in member states. It should not be assumed that directives are always implemented to the letter, but providing them together in one place at least allows a broad understanding of the influences of European legislation. EU Regulations are significant in the food sector of those we cover currently, for example, and it's important at least to be aware of them, albeit rules are reflected in the self-regulatory measures that remain the most important influence in advertising regulation in Europe and elsewhere. A valuable June 2021 piece from Simmons and Simmons/ Lexology Media law and regulation in European Union focuses largely on the AVMS Directive and its amendment by Directive 2018/1808.

 

The issue with European rules is that it can be difficult to understand which regulation applies to which marketing technique or process, especially as some directives apply to several marketing tools. The table below provides an overview; the marcoms-relevant rules are set out in content section B and channel section C, as applicable.
 
European Directives in marketing

 

Issue or channel Key European legislation and clauses
Cookies
The EU ‘Cookies Directive’ 2009/136/EC
articles 5 and 7, which amended the E-Privacy Directive 2002/58/EC
Electronic coms. Consent and Information 
Articles 5 (3) and 13 
E-commerce; related electronic communications
Directive on electronic commerce 2000/31/EC of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2000/31/oj
Articles 5 and 6
Marketing Communications
Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices 
Articles 6, 7, 14 (amendments re comparative advertising), Annex I
December 2021 Commission guidance. See Omnibus Directive below; also amended by the Empco Directive see Environmental Claims section
Audiovisual media 

Directive 2010/13/EU concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive; consolidated version)
http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2010/13/oj

Directive 2018/1808 extended some rules into especially video-sharing platforms 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/1808/oj

Data Processing 

Regulation 2016/679/EU on the processing of personal data (GDPR) 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj

 

THE DMA AND DSA IN EUROPE

 

Two relatively recent arrivals in EU digital platform regulation are the Digital Markets Act (implemented May 2023), aka Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 and its implementing provisions; Commission explanatory pages here and the Digital Services Act, pages here (implemented Feb 2024 for all platforms) aka Regulation 2022 (EU) 2022/2065. The first, as the name implies, is the EU's means of reining in the major digital 'gatekeepers' to ensure 'fairer and more contestable' markets. Somewhat obviously, the rules are aimed at platforms rather than advertisers and agencies, though there are implications for behaviourally targeted advertising. The DSA's main goal 'is to prevent illegal and harmful activities online and the spread of disinformation.' Loosely, this is the EU's Online Safety Act.

 

Shaping The Future Of Tech: Latest Updates On The Digital Markets Act

Quinn Emanuel/ Lex October 10, 2024

 

DATA/ PRIVACY 

 

 Rules for data processing, consent and information in digital communications in Europe are shown above under the Directives table and in our channel section

See the US general rules on this database for privacy/ processing rules in that jurisdiction. Below are some key legal commentaries on this topic

 

Data Protection & Privacy: EU overview. Hunton Andrews Kurth July 3, 2024*

Data Protection update - August 2024. Stephenson Harwood/ Lex

Above covers Australia, China, EU, UK, USA

Consent or pay: one rule for some (large online platforms),

another rule for everyone else? Weil Gotshal & Manges 30/8/24

Meta’s Ad-Free Subscription Violates Competition Law

Adam Satariano NYT July 1, 2024

EDPB Opinion 8/2024 on Pay or Consent April 17. Lexia May 8

EDAA launches new solution to DSA ad transparency requirements

 

THE OMNIBUS DIRECTIVE

 

Report from the Commission to the European parliament and the Council on implementation

June 18, 2024. Commentary from Lewis Silikin July 9, 2024 here (See third entry)
 

Directive 2019/2161, known as the Omnibus Directive but more formally as (deep breath) Directive (EU) 2019/2161 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directives 98/6/EC, 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the better enforcement and modernisation of Union consumer protection rules sets out new information requirements for search rankings and consumer reviews, new pricing information in the context of automated decision-making and profiling of consumer behaviour, and price reduction information under the Product Pricing Directive 98/6/EC. More directly related to this database, and potentially significant for multinational advertisers, is the clause that amends article 6 (misleading actions) of the UCPD adding ‘(c) any marketing of a good, in one Member State, as being identical to a good marketed in other Member States, while that good has significantly different composition or characteristics, unless justified by legitimate and objective factors’. Recitals related to this clause, which provide some context, are here. Helpful October 2021 explanatory piece on the Omnibus Directive from A&L Goodbody via Lex here. Provisions were supposed to have been transposed and in force in member states by May 28, 2022, though there were several delays, now resolved.

 

...............................................................

 

Sections B and C below set out the rules that are relevant to marketing communications from the directives above, together with the self-regulatory measures referenced under point 1 in this overview.

 

 

COMPENDIA, FORECASTS, VADE MECUMS 

 

As this is reference work rather than current, we have made it available in back-up here 

Advertising, Media and Brands Global Hot Topics Squire Patton Boggs Sept 16, 2024

 

 

 

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Read more

B. Content Rules

Sector

SECTION B CONTENT RULES

 

 

This section is longer than most. To help navigate it, some of the text is 'anchored' and linked to respective headings immediately below

 

 

1. POLISH SELF-REGULATION IN FOOD AND SOFT DRINKS
   1.1. Food/ children
   1.2. The EU/ Polish Pledge
   1.3. European self-regulation (ICC)


2. PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN LEGISLATION FOR ALL FOOD AND SOFT DRINKS
   2.1. Food Information to consumers
   2.2. Nutrition and health claims
   2.3. List of health claims


3. NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LEGISLATION FOR CERTAIN FOOD TYPES
   3.1. Food supplements
   3.2. Infant and Follow-On Formula

   3.3. Foods for use in energy-restricted diets  

4. ADVERTISING TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

   4.1. General rules
   4.2. Broadcasting rules

 

 

 

1.1 Children and Food

 

Below is taken verbatim from appendix 2 to the Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN), Standards of Food Advertising Aimed at Children Under 12

 

  • Advertisements of food products may not be directly aimed at children under 12 (art. 1)
  • Restraints in advertising of food products do not apply to products that meet specified nutritional criteria, based on accepted scientific bases and/ or national and international dietary recommendations, particularly those described in Appendix 2a to the Code of Ethics in Advertising ‘Nutritional criteria for self-regulation on advertising food to children under the age of 12' (art.2)
  • Every advertisement is considered aimed at children if in planned targeted media audience share of children under 12 is minimum 35 percent (art. 3)
  • Advertising of food products may not be conducted in any form in elementary schools (art. 4)
  • Advertising of food products may not (art. 5):

 

  1. Encourage or condone unhealthy dietary habits or unhealthy lifestyle i.e. immoderate, excessive or forced consumption or promote sedentary lifestyle
  2. Discredit healthy dietary habits, diversified and balanced diet or physical activity
  3. Contain direct call to purchase advertised products by using phrases such as “buy now”, “must have it”
  4. Contain direct appeal to children to persuade parents to buy advertised products
  5. Mislead regarding characteristic of advertised product and benefits from using the product
  6. Suggest that advertised product has special nutritional characteristic if other similar products have similar characteristic
  7. Arouse fear by portraying acts of violence or exaggerated aggressive elements
  8. Encourage to use product in inappropriate or dangerous way

 

  • Advertising within the meaning of Code is not using name, logo or product in educational campaigns, aimed at propagation of healthy dietary habits and physical activity amongst children and young people. Such campaigns have to be in line with national and / or international dietary recommendations regarding diet and physical activity. If such campaigns are being carried out in schools, they have to be agreed with school authorities (art. 6)

 

From appendix 2a Nutritional Criteria:
The following categories of food will not be advertised to children under 12:

 

  1. Sugar and sugar-based products, comprising:

 

  • Chocolate and chocolate products
  • Jam or marmalade
  • Non-chocolate candy and other sugar products

 

  1. Non-alcoholic beverages
  2. Potato chips and potato-based snacks, including products made from dough

 

1.2. The EU/ Polish Pledge

 

The EU Pledge, enhanced July 2021 effective January 2022, is a voluntary initiative by leading Food and Beverage companies to change food and soft drink advertising to children under the age of thirteen in the EU and consists of three main commitments:

 

 

The EU Pledge Implementation guidance, in detail and by medium, is here

 

1.3 ICC: European self-regulation

 

For a European self-regulatory position, see the ICC’s Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communications, as linked above for the EU Pledge

 

 

 

2.1 Food information to consumers
Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers

 

Article 7 of the Regulation. Fair information practices:

 

  1. Food information shall not be misleading, particularly:
     
    1. As to the characteristics of the food and, in particular, as to its nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, durability, country of origin or place of provenance, method of manufacture or production
    2. By attributing to the food effects or properties that it does not possess
    3. By suggesting that the food possesses special characteristics when in fact all similar foods possess such characteristics, in particular by specifically emphasising the presence or absence of certain ingredients and/or nutrients
    4. By suggesting, by means of the appearance, the description or pictorial representations, the presence of a particular food or an ingredient, while in reality a component naturally present or an ingredient normally used in that food has been substituted with a different component or a different ingredient
       
  2. Food information shall be accurate, clear and easy to understand for the consumer
  3. Subject to derogations provided for by Union law applicable to natural mineral waters and foods for particular nutritional uses, food information shall not attribute to any food the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, nor refer to such properties
  4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall also apply to:
     
    1. Advertising
    2. The presentation of foods, in particular their shape, appearance or packaging, the packaging materials used, the way in which they are arranged and the setting in which they are displayed

 

2.2 Nutrition and health claims
Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on food

 

We show only those clauses from the Regulation specific to marcoms. All the claims are available from the EU Register on Nutrition and Health Claims. The clauses below are more general and specific conditions around the claims, and some prohibitions. Nutrition claims are also listed in the annex to Regulation 1924/2006 linked above 

 

General principles for all claims
Article 3 of the Regulation

 

Use of nutrition and health claims shall not:
 

  1. Be false, ambiguous or misleading
  2. Give rise to doubt about the safety and / or the nutritional adequacy of other foods
  3. Encourage or condone excessive consumption of a food
  4. State, suggest or imply that a balanced and varied diet cannot provide appropriate quantities of nutrients in general CAVEAT Derogations (exemptions or amends) in the case of nutrients for which sufficient quantities cannot be provided by a balanced and varied diet, including the conditions for their application, and designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it may be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 25 (3), taking into account the special conditions present in Member State 
  5. Refer to changes in bodily functions that could give rise to or exploit fear in the consumer, either textually or through pictorial, graphic or symbolic representations.

 

General conditions
From Article 5, relevant to marcoms

 

  • The use of nutrition and health claims shall only be permitted if the average consumer can be expected to understand the beneficial effects as expressed in the claim (Art. 5.2)
  • Nutrition and health claims shall refer to the food ready for consumption in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions (Art. 5.3)

 

Specific substantiation for claims
Article 6

 

  • Nutrition and health claims must be based on and substantiated by generally accepted scientific evidence
  • A food business operator making a nutrition or health claim must justify the use of the claim

 

 

  • Without prejudice to Directive 84/450/EEC, a comparison may only be made between foods of the same category, taking into consideration a range of foods of that category. The difference in the quantity of a nutrient and/or the energy value shall be stated and the comparison shall relate to the same quantity of food
  • Comparative nutrition claims shall compare the composition of the food in question with a range of foods of the same category, which do not have a composition which allows them to bear a claim, including foods of other brands.

 

Health claims
Article 10 Specific conditions
(Link back to the regulation is here, as there are several references below not covered in our preceding text)

 

  • Health claims shall be prohibited unless they comply with the general requirements in Chapter II and the specific requirements in this Chapter and are authorised in accordance with this Regulation and included in the lists of authorised claims provided for in Articles 13 and 14
  • Health claims shall only be permitted if the following information is included in the labelling, or if no such labelling exists, in the presentation and advertising:
     
  1. A statement indicating the importance of a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle
  2. The quantity of the food and pattern of consumption required to obtain the claimed beneficial effect
  3. Where appropriate, a statement addressed to persons who should avoid using the food; and
  4. An appropriate warning for products likely to present a health risk if consumed to excess
     
  • Reference to general, non-specific benefits of the nutrient or food for overall good health or health-related well-being may only be made if accompanied by a specific health claim included in the lists provided for in Article 13 or 14
  • Where appropriate, guidelines on the implementation of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 25 (2) and, if necessary, in consultation with interested parties, in particular food business operators and consumer groups

 

Restrictions on the use of certain health claims
Article 12

  • The following health claims are not allowed:
     
  1. Claims that suggest that health could be affected by not consuming the food
  2. Claims that refer to the rate or amount of weight loss
  3. Claims that refer to recommendations of single doctors or health professionals and other associations not referenced in article 11 (This is article 11: National associations of medical, nutrition or dietetic professionals and health-related charities In the absence of specific Community rules concerning recommendations of or endorsements by national associations of medical, nutrition or dietetic professionals and health-related charities, relevant national rules may apply in compliance with the provisions of the Treaty) 

 

Reduction of disease risk claims and claims referring to children's development and health
Article 14

 

  1. Notwithstanding Article 2 (1) (b) of Directive 2000/13/EC, the following claims may be made where they have been authorised in accordance with the procedure laid down in Articles 15, 16, 17 and 19 of this Regulation for inclusion in a Community list of such permitted claims together with all the necessary conditions for the use of these claims:
     
    1. Reduction of disease risk claims
    2. Claims referring to children's development and health
       
  2. In addition to the general requirements laid down in this Regulation and the specific requirements of paragraph 1, for reduction of disease risk claims the labelling or, if no such labelling exists, the presentation or advertising shall also bear a statement indicating that the disease to which the claim is referring has multiple risk factors and that altering one of these risk factors may or may not have a beneficial effect

 

2.3. List of health claims

 

Regulation 432/2012 of 16 May 2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods, other than those referring to the reduction of disease risk and to children’s development and health. The annex of the Regulation sets out the claims and the conditions under which they can be made. Health claims are also available from the EU Register of nutrition and health claims made on foods

 

 

 

3.1 Food supplements

 

  • The relevant European Directive is 2002/46/EC on Food Supplements, defined as ‘foodstuffs the purpose of which is to supplement the normal diet and which are concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, alone or in combination, marketed in dose form, namely forms such as capsules, pastilles, tablets, pills and other similar forms, sachets of powder, ampoules of liquids, drop dispensing bottles, and other similar forms of liquids and powders designed to be taken in measured small unit quantities’.
  • The Directive prohibits claims related to preventing, treating or curing a human disease, or referring to such properties, 'nor may there be any mention stating or implying that a balanced and varied diet cannot provide appropriate quantities of nutrients in general.' The second of those provisions is found in Article 27 of the Polish Act on Food Safety and Nutrition (PO); medical claims are anyway probited for all foods
  • Consult the EU Register to see whether a health claim is permitted; the Register shows authorised health claims (for the nutrient or other substance, or food or category of food), and their conditions of use and applicable restrictions, if any

 

3.2. Infant formulae and follow-on formulae
Applicable legislation 

 

  • Regulation 609/2013 on food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control: foods for specific groups: 'FSG Regulation' (Arts. 9 (5) and 10)
  • Commission Delegated Regulation 2016/127 supplementing Regulation 609/2013; arts. 10 and 11
  • Directive 2006/141/EC applied until 21 February 2021 to infant formula and follow-on formula manufactured from protein hydrolysates
  • National implementation: the Act on Food Safety and Nutrition 2006 (PO); article 25 

 

Article 10 FSG Regulation 609/2013

Additional requirements for infant formula and follow-on formula

 

  1. The labelling, presentation and advertising of infant formula and follow-on formula shall be designed so as not to discourage breast-feeding
  2. The labelling, presentation and advertising of infant formula, and the labelling of follow-on formula shall not include pictures of infants, or other pictures or text which may idealise the use of such formulae

Without prejudice to the first subparagraph, graphic representations for easy identification of infant formula and follow-on formula and for illustrating methods of preparation shall be permitted

 

Article 10 Delegated Regulation 2016/127

Requirements for promotional and commercial practices for infant formula

 

  1. Advertising of infant formula shall be restricted to publications specialising in baby care and scientific publications. Member States may further restrict or prohibit such advertising. Such advertising shall contain only information of a scientific and factual nature. Such information shall not imply or create a belief that bottle-feeding is equivalent or superior to breast feeding
  2. There shall be no point-of-sale advertising, giving of samples or any other promotional device to induce sales of infant formula directly to the consumer at the retail level, such as special displays, discount coupons, premiums, special sales, loss-leaders and tie-in sales
  3. Manufacturers and distributors of infant formula shall not provide, to the general public or to pregnant women, mothers or members of their families, free or low-priced products, samples or any other promotional gifts, either directly or indirectly via the health care system or health workers
  4. Donations or low-price sales of supplies of infant formula to institutions or organisations, whether for use in the institutions or for distribution outside them, shall only be used by or distributed for infants who have to be fed on infant formula and only for as long as required by such infant

 

National law 

  • The national Act on Food Safety and Nutrition 2006 (PO) implements the above in its article 25 and that infant formulae can be provided free of charge or at a reduced price to institutions whose statutory objectives include helping children or the family; it may be used or provided for use only in the feeding of these infants, which must be fed artificially, for a period of legitimate nutritional needs of these infants ​

 

3.3. Foods for Use in Energy-Restricted Diets for Weight Reduction 
Applicable legislation

 

  • Regulation 609/2013 on food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control (Foods for specific groups 'FSG Regulation') Relevant article 9 (5) FSG)
  • Commission Directive 96/8/EC on foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction, amended by Directive 2007/29/EC art. 5.3; remains applicable for total diet replacement products until finalisation of the Delegated Act foreseen under Art. 11(1) FSG
  • Per above, Delegated Regulation 2017/1798 supplements Regulation 609/2013 on the specific compositional and information requirements for total diet replacement for weight control; does not apply until October 2022
  • Re: ‘Meal replacement products’, the compositional and information requirements are regulated by the EU food framework applicable to 'normal' food, particularly the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation 1924/2006; see recital 43 FSG 
  • Nationally, the Act on Food Safety and Nutrition (PO) Chapter 6

 

Key advertising-related clauses

Total diet replacement products

 

  • The ‘broader’ FSG rules are set out under FSG article 9, the most significant clause being 5: The labelling, presentation and advertising of food referred to in Article 1(1) (includes total diet replacement for weight control) shall provide information for the appropriate use of such food, and shall not mislead, or attribute to such food the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, or imply such properties
  • The delegated Regulation 2017/1798 linked above (does not apply until October 2022) carries the more specific requirements for these products. The key article is article 4. See the linked file for the full article; the key clause is 3: the labelling, presentation and advertising of total diet replacement for weight control products shall not make any reference to the rate or amount of weight reduction which may result from its use
  • The above prohibition is covered in the meantime under Restrictions on the Use of Certain Health Claims, Article 12 Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on food
  • Additionally, Article 6 (of 2017/1798) re Nutrition and health claims:

 

  1. Nutrition and health claims shall not be made on total diet replacement for weight control products
  2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the nutrition claim ‘added fibre’ may be used for total diet replacement for weight control products provided that the dietary fibre content of the product is not less than 10 g

 

Meal replacement products

 

  • Recital 43 FSG Reg establishes that rules on the use of statements on meal replacement products should be regulated solely under Regulation 1924/2006 on Nutrition and Health Claims. Article 20 (3) FSG Reg confirms that Directive 96/8/EC shall not apply from 20 July 2016 to foods presented as a replacement for one or more meals of the daily diet. This means that:

 

  • Claims which make reference to the rate or amount of weight loss will (continue) not (to) be allowed (Art. 12 (b) Reg. 1924/2006)
  • See article 13 Reg 1924/2006 linked above for the conditions under which health claims might be made

 

 

 

4.1 General rules


From the self-regulatory Code of Ethics in Advertising; not sector-specific - we have set out the Children-related food rules earlier. These rules will apply, for example, to advertising for foods that meet the required nutritional criteria (all other food advertising to children under 12 is prohibited). Clauses are taken from Chapter IV of the Code of Ethics in Advertising: Advertising addressed to children and young people. Note: clauses are verbatim; where the English might be ‘helped’ we have shown a bracketed alternative translation with the agreement of RR

 

  • The value of the products offered in advertisements addressed to children or young people cannot be indicated in the manner which will make children or young people incorrectly perceive their actual value, e.g. by using in an inappropriate context such expressions and words as “only” (tylko), “little” (niewiele). The advertisements cannot also suggest that the product is available for any household budget (Art. 22)
  • Advertisement addressed to children or young people cannot contain any statements which may constitute a health or safety hazard (Art. 23)
  • According to Article 8 (Advertisements should not abuse the trust of the recipient or exploit his lack of experience or knowledge) and Article 10, advertisements addressed to children or young people cannot exploit their natural credulity and lack of experience (Art. 24)
  • Advertisement addressed to children or young people must take into account the degree of their development and cannot be a hazard to their further physical, mental or moral development (Art. 25)
  • Advertisement addressed to children or young people cannot suggest that the possession or use of the product will ensure to them social or psychological advantage over others and the failure to possess such product will have the opposite effect (Art. 26)
  • Advertisement addressed to children or young people cannot undermine the authority of parents or of other persons with legal custody, question their responsibility, opinion, tastes, or favourites (preferences). The above limitation (restriction) shall not be applicable to the cases of counteracting social pathologies (when combating social problems)  (Art. 27)

 

Article 28

 

1. In the case of advertisements addressed to children special care should be taken to ensure that it does not mislead the recipients as to the true size, value, nature, durability, appearance, and technical potential of the advertised item, e.g.:

 

  1. If accessories (e.g. batteries) are necessary for using the product or an additional material (e.g. paint) is necessary for achieving the result shown or described, this should be made clear
  2. If the advertisement is applicable to separately sold products, this should be unequivocally stated
  3. Advertisements cannot diminish the physical skills (skills and abilities) required to use the product; where the results and the method of use of the advertised item are presented without any clear reservation (restriction), then the presented result should be attainable for an average child at the age range for which the product is intended

 

Articles 29-32

 

  • Advertisements cannot contain (i) orders to persuade adult persons to purchase the advertised items or, (ii) the instruction of how to persuade adult persons to purchase the advertised items, directly addressed to children or young people (Art. 29) 
  • If necessary due to security reasons, both advertisements as well as products addressed to children or young people must contain express information for which age group the product is intended (Art. 30)
  • Sales promotion, direct marketing, or sponsored events addressed to children or young people must be consistent with the respective principles stipulated in the Code, and in particular with the provisions of this Chapter (Art. 31)
  • Articles 22-31 apply accordingly also to advertisements, which are not directly targeted at children, but children are their recipients due to the form, place and method of presentation. This applies particularly to advertisements broadcast close to children’s programming, advertisements shown in cinemas before children’s movies and to outdoor advertising (Art. 32)

 

4.2. Rules from (EN) The Broadcasting Act 1992 (applicable to TV and Radio)
Article 16b

 

  • 2. It shall be prohibited to broadcast commercial communications that:
  1. Directly exhort minors to purchase products or services
  2. Encourage minors to exert pressure upon their parents or other persons to persuade them to purchase the products or services being advertised
  3. Exploit the trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons
  4. Unreasonably show minors in dangerous situations
  5. Are of a subliminal nature (and article 16c prohibits 'surreptitious' commercial communications)
  • 3a. Children’s programmes shall not be accompanied by commercial communications for foods or beverages containing ingredients excessive intakes of which in the everyday diet are not recommended

 

 

 

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General

SECTION B CONTENT RULES

 

 

This section is longer than most. To help navigate it, some of the text is 'anchored' and linked to respective headings immediately below

 

  1. SELF-REGULATION 

1.1. Basic principles of advertising 

1.2. Advertising addressed to children and young people

1.3. Environmental Advertising 

1.4. Direct marketing

 

  1. LEGISLATION

2.1. Unfair Commercial Practices Act 

2.2. Unfair Competition Act

2.3. Broadcasting Act

 

  1. SPECIFIC CLAIM AREAS

3.1. Environmental claims

3.1.1. Self-regulation (national)

3.1.2. International self-regulation

3.1.3. Horizontal legislation and guidance

3.1.4. Comparative claims
 

3.2. Pricing

3.2.1. Self-regulation (RR Code of Ethics)

3.2.2. Applicable legislation

3.2.3. Key points from Citroën/ ZLW case

 

 

I. SELF-REGULATION

 

Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising PO / EN 

Articles 1 and 2 Scope and article 3 Definitions  (link)

 

1.1. Basic principles of advertising 

 

  1. Discrimination. Advertising must not contain any form of discrimination, in particular that based upon race, religion, sex or national origin
  2. Violence. Advertising should not contain any elements encouraging to acts of violence, including hate speech
  3. Anxiety. Without justifiable reasons based, for example, on social grounds and prophylaxis (treatment of disease), advertisements should not motivate for purchase of a product by taking advantage of misfortunes or by causing anxiety or fear
  4. Historical objects. Advertising should not be operated in such a way as to endanger artistic or historical objects, whether tangible or intangible
  5. Exploitation. Advertising cannot abuse the trust of the recipient or exploit the recipient's lack of experience or knowledge
  6. Identification. Advertiser, promoter, operator and media, each of them only within the scope of its activities related to advertising, will obey the rule that every recipient of advertising made or distributed with its participation should be able to identify that a particular message is an advertisement.
 

 10. Misleadingness

 

1. Advertisements should not mislead their recipients, in particular with regard to:

 
  1. important characteristics such as nature, composition, method and date of manufacture, range of use, quantity, origin (also geographical) of the advertised item
  2. value of the product and the total price actually to be paid for the product as well as other payment conditions like instalment sales, leasing, credit sales, bargain sales
  3. terms of delivery, exchange, return, repair and maintenance
  4. guarantee terms
  5. intellectual and industrial property rights such in particular patents, names, trademarks, and industrial designs and models
  6. official permits or approvals, awards, prizes, medals, and diplomas
  7. the extent of the entrepreneur’s benefits for charitable causes
  8. specific advantages of the product if the advantage consists exclusively in the compliance with minimum legal requirements
 

2. Data as well as scientific terms, quotations from technical or scientific publications not considered data within the meaning of the Code, used in advertisements, must indicate their source and cannot be used in a misleading manner. The data must be presented correctly from the methodological point of view. Presentation of statistical data must in particular take into account the rules of statistical inference, including the phenomenon of statistical error

 

11. Comparative advertising

 

1. Comparative advertising is not contrary to social conventions if it meets the following conditions altogether:
 

  1. it is not a misleading advertisement
  2. it compares goods or services meeting the same needs or intended for the same purpose in a fair and verifiable manner on the basis of objective criteria
  3. it objectively compares one or more relevant, characteristic, verifiable and typical features of these goods and services, which may include price
  4. it does not cause confusion in the market in terms of distinguishing between the advertiser and its competitor, or between their goods or services, trademarks, business designation or other distinctive marks
  5. it does not discredit the goods, services, activity, trademarks, business designation or other distinctive marks, as well as the circumstances of a competitor
  6. for goods with a protected geographical indication or protected designation of origin it always refers to goods with the same indication
  7. it does not unfairly exploit the reputation of a competitor’s trademark, business designation or other distinctive mark, or a protected geographical indication or protected designation of origin of competing products
  8. it does not present the goods or services as an imitation or copy of goods or services bearing a protected trademark, protected geographical indication or protected designation of origin or other distinctive mark.
 
 12. Consent to portrayal
 
  1. Advertisements should not portray or refer to any natural person, including a person generally known in connection, for example, with performing by such person public functions, without obtaining such person’s prior consent, and should not describe or refer to a property of a specific person without such person’s consent, in a way likely to convey the impression of the personal endorsement by such person
  2. The provisions of paragraph 1 above shall apply per analogy to entities other than natural persons
 
 
  1.  Warranties. If the advertisement contains information on a guarantee in extent and within the meaning contained in legally binding terms of sale, it must be available at a point of sale or enclosed with the product and will be transferred to the beneficiary
  2. Credit. Presentation of instalment sale, the credit terms or other forms of consumers’ credit must be so framed as not to raise doubts concerning the actual final price of the advertised item, including the amount of cash payment, the amount of advance payment, the interest rate, the credit instalment repayment dates, and other conditions related to that kind of sale
  3. Loans. Advertisements informing on money loan offers should not contain any statements likely to mislead the recipients, in particular as to their kind, indispensable security, repayment dates, actual interest costs, and any other possible fees
  4. Investments. Advertisements referring to savings or investing methods cannot contain any statements likely to mislead the recipients in particular with respect to the estimated future income, factors affecting the level of such income, and the possible tax reductions
  5. Free. Advertisements which may make the recipient believe it is not necessary to pay for the product if such product is not actually available free of charge cannot be used
  6. Franchises. 1. Advertisements of franchisers searching for franchisees should not, directly or by implication, mislead as to the scope of help provided, potential payment, work contribution and essential financial assets. The franchiser’s full name and permanent address should be stated
    2. The provisions of paragraph 1 above shall be applicable to advertisements aimed at entering into legal or factual relations with the nature similar in effects to franchise
  7. Risk of harm. Advertisements of products which used in a proper way may cause real danger should clearly point out the potential danger related to their use
  8. Documentation. The data, recommendations, commercial offers, information, or clarifications concerning the product should be appropriately documented. The documents should be made available on the beneficiary’s demand
  9. Animal rights. Advertisements should not promote attitudes that question the rights of animals. Advertisements containing image of animals should be self-restrained, so animals are not portrayed in a way that suggests non-humanitarian treatment of them

 

..........................................................

 

 

1.2. Advertising addressed to children and young people; Chapter IV, articles 22-32 from the Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN)

 

 

In September 2019 the Children’s Protection Charter, applicable to its signatories, was established and is set out under Appendix 3 to the Code of Ethics. It includes e.g. some rules for producing commercials with child actors. Rules for Children’s marcoms can also be found on the home page of this website

 

..............................................................

 

 

1.3.  Environmental Advertising; Chapter V, articles 33-42 of the Code of Ethics linked above; articles shown below under specific claim areas, environmental claims

 

 

1.4. Direct marketing articles 45-48 of the Code of Ethics in Advertising 

See also the DM header under our following channel section C

 

2. LEGISLATION

 

  • While advertising regulation is largely a self-regulatory system, legislation plays a part in channel rules especially, but also in advertising content. Issues around unfair commercial practices and comparative advertising in particular can end up in the courts, so it’s best to know what the statutes say, albeit rules are largely echoed in self-regulation
  • There are three principal legislative influences on marcoms content in Poland; key clauses from each are shown as downloadable files in order to avoid this section becoming too long, and because self-regulation largely covers the bases

 

2.1. The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN  (inc. 2022 amends)

The above linked files include amends resulting from the transposition of Omnibus Directive 2019/2161 and therefore carry provisions related to search rankings, consumer reviews and 'internationalisation' of campaigns. This law also carries provisions from transposition of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive UCPD 2005/29/EC and therefore forms the core legislation in B2C marketing 

 

2.2. The Unfair Competition Act - UCA PO / EN (translation note here

This act protects businesses from unfair trading, transposing the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive MACAD 2006/114/EC​. The above translation carries more provisions but is somewhat dated. The key clauses for our purposes are those related to comparative advertising, shown in English here:
http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POGenUCAUnfairCompBL.pdf

 

2.3. The Broadcasting Act (BA; Arts 16.1; 16b; 16c)

http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POBroadcastingActWRversionb.pdf (EN key clauses)

This act transposes the Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EU and therefore carries the marcoms rules related to minors, discrimination, subliminal advertising etc. that are set out below. See final para in this section re amends related to the extension of scope into video-sharing platforms

 

 

TV/ Radio; covering advertising, teleshopping, PP, sponsorship

 

  • Commercial communications must be readily recognisable (Art. 16.1)
  • It is prohibited to broadcast commercial communications that (Art. 16b (2) BA):
     
  1. Directly exhort minors to purchase products or services
  2. Encourage minors to exert pressure upon their parents or other persons to persuade them to purchase the products or services being advertised
  3. Exploit the trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons
  4. Unreasonably show minors in dangerous situations
  5. Are of a subliminal nature

 

  • Commercial communications must not (Art. 16b (3) BA):
     
  1. Offend against/ violate human dignity
  2. Include any discrimination on grounds of race, sex, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation
  3. Be offensive to religious or political beliefs
  4. Prejudice/ jeopardise the physical, mental or moral development of minors
  5. Encourage behaviour prejudicial to health, safety or environmental protection

 

  • Children’s programmes shall not be accompanied by commercial communications for foods or beverages containing ingredients, excessive intakes of which in the everyday diet are not recommended (Art. 16b (3a) BA)

 

The Broadcasting act was amended by the act of August 11th 2021 (PO) that transposed Directive 2018/1808; the Directive extends AVMSD rules online. Content rules are essentially unchanged and shown for the Directive here

 

3. SPECIFIC CLAIM AREAS

 

3.1. Environmental claims

 

3.1.1. Self-regulation (national)

Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising: Chapter V -Environmental Advertising

Amends from March 1, 2023. See Green Project (EN) 

 

  • Advertisements cannot undermine public trust in correctly performed activities undertaken within the framework of natural environment protection Environmental advertisements must not undermine public trust in appropriately performed activities undertaken within the framework of environmental care. The message of environmental advertisements must not be factually inaccurate, unmeasurable or unverifiable (Art. 33)
  • Advertisements cannot exploit the lack of knowledge of their recipients in the area of natural environment protection 1. Environmental advertisements should be written in an explicit, simple and understandable language. Environmental or scientific terms may be used in an environmental advertisement provided that they are material to the overall message and understandable for the average recipient. 2. Environmental advertisements relating to the future environmental impact must be based on clear, objective goals, aspirations and commitments (Art. 34)
  • Advertisements cannot contain a message which might mislead the consumers as to environmental protection, including but not limited to through misleading information on characteristics of products or on activities undertaken by the advertiser for environmental protection. Advertisements of entrepreneurs related to specific products or actions cannot without justified grounds extend the advertising effect in the area of natural environment protection to the whole business of the advertiser 1. Environmental advertisements should not present the requirements imposed by law on all products in a given product category, or any features otherwise common to all products in the same category as distinguishing features unique for the advertiser’s offer. 2. If the truthfulness of an environmental advertisement depends on the existence of certain conditions or reservations, these conditions or reservations should be indicated in the advertisement (Art. 35) 
  • An environmental claim must relate to the characteristics of the advertised product and must refer to such characteristics of such product that exist throughout the product life or periodically, but in the latter case the advertisement must inform the recipient thereof 1. Environmental advertisements should refer to a specific product or activity of the advertiser, and in its message the environmental advertisement must not extend the advertising effect to the entire activity of the advertiser in an unfounded or unverifiable manner. 2. Environmental advertisements of a product should be different from environmental advertisements relating to the advertiser’s operations, practices and sustainability policies (Art. 36)
  • Advertisements containing general phrases such as “environmentally friendly” or “ecologically safe” cannot be misleading. The information indicating the precise effect of the product in this area must be available at the point of sale, enclosed to the product or shall be presented to the beneficiary in a publicly accessible way Environmental advertisements should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, from the perspective of the recipient and taking into account the social, cultural and linguistic factors of the market in which they will be broadcast (Art. 37)
  • Article 38: 1. When advertisements refer to the reduction the quantity (number) of components or elements having an environmental impact, such information cannot be misleading. The information indicating the precise positive effect of the product in this area must be true and available at the point of sale or enclosed to the product and shall be presented to the beneficiary. 2. Advertising claims cannot refer to the absence of components, features or impacts that are not applicable to the given product category. 3. An advertising claim of “…free”, or of the same effect, should only be made when the level of the specified substance does not exceed that of an acknowledged trace contaminant or background level. 4. Environmental signs or symbols should only be used when the source of origin (granting or appointing) these signs or symbols is clearly indicated in advertisement, and there is no confusion over their meaning. Such signs and symbols should not falsely suggest that their presence is related to a decision of a government administration authority, local government authority, or other institutions the activity of which is connected with natural environment protection The environmental benefits of a given product indicated or depicted in an advertisement must be related to the product’s characteristics. Where environmental benefits relate to characteristics that occur periodically at a particular stage or stages of a product’s life cycle, the advertisement must inform the recipient thereof (Art. 38)
  • Environmental claims referring to waste handling are acceptable provided that the recommended method of separation, collection, processing or disposal is available for a significant part of the beneficiaries. Otherwise, the extent and method of obtaining access to the above-described methods should be indicated The general presentation of the subject of an environmental advertisement, its individual elements and the information on its subject may not be misleading about the existence of environmental benefits concerning the subject (Art. 39)
  • Environmental advertisements, including, without limitation, the wording used in them that refers to environmental impact, should be justified in a way that is understandable to the recipient. The justification should be based on verifiable evidence, taking into account the state of knowledge, including, without limitation, scientific or specialized knowledge, on the subject relevant to the advertisement on the date of its broadcast (Art. 40)

  • Information referring to waste management may be included in an advertisement only if the recommended waste sorting, collecting, recycling or disposal method is understandable and easily accessible for the recipient. Otherwise, the advertisement must explicitly and in an understandable manner indicate the manner and scope of access to the indicated methods (Art. 41)

  • If environmental advertisements contain comparisons, including general comparisons or comparisons to other products, then only products or services that perform the same function may be compared. Environmental advertisements may compare one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative characteristics of these products. Environmental advertisements should indicate the comparison criteria that have been adopted. The same scientifically valid methods and criteria of comparison should be applied to assess all products being compared in a consistent manner (Art. 42)

 

3.1.2. International self-regulation

 

  • There are some international self-regulatory rules, shown in full under the International tab, that are relevant in this context. While the national codes and laws are the rules that drive requirements, and against which adjudications will be made, the ICC’s Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN; ICC Code) provides an important international framework, and in some countries plays the role of the national advertising code. In particular in this context, Chapter D of the code
  • The ICC Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications (November 2021) includes under Appendix I an environmental claims checklist, and updated guidance on the use of environmental claims often appearing in marketing communications

 

3.1.3. Horizontal legislation and guidance

 

The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive UCPD 2005/29/EC is transposed into Polish Law by the Unfair Commercial Practices Act UCPA PO / EN 

 

  • The UCPD applies to all claims made in B2C commercial practices, including those related to the environment
  • Competitors may challenge environmental claims as unfair commercial practices before national courts where claims are assessed against the UCPA/ D 
  • EU Compliance Criteria on Environmental Claims (2016) EN. This advice is not legally binding, but fed into the revision of the 2016 Commission Guidance, since updated per below
  • On 17 December 2021, the European Commission adopted an updated Commission Notice on the interpretation and application of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (‘the UCPD Guidance’). See section 4.1.1. for Environmental claims. This document is both new as at December 2021 and the definitive guidance across commercial practices/ claim areas covered by the UCPD

3.1.4. Comparative claims

 

Product comparisons involving environmental claims should be assessed under the criteria set out by the Directive on Misleading and Comparative Advertising MACAD Article4. in Poland, article 16.3 of the Act on Combating Unfair Competition UCA) PO / EN  sets out the criteria under which comparative advertising is allowed. These criteria apply to advertisements which compare the environmental impact or benefit of different products. Under these provisions, such a comparison should therefore, among other things (see Art. 4 2006/114/EC / Art. 16.3 Polish UCA): 
 

  • Not be misleading, within the meaning of the UCPD
  • Compare goods or services meeting the same needs or intended for the same purpose
  • Objectively compare one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative features of those goods and services

 

 

 

Note: stating prices correctly in advertising can be difficult from a regulatory perspective. If uncertain, check with your/ your client’s lawyers

 

3.2.1. Self-regulation

 

From the Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising

 

  • Advertising must not mislead its recipients, particularly with regard to: the value of the product and the total price actually to be paid for the product as well as other payment conditions like instalment sales, leasing, credit sales, bargain sales (Art. 10.1b)
  • Comparative advertising may compare one or more characteristics if such characteristics are verifiable. Price may be one of such characteristics (Art. 11.4)
  • Direct marketing activities, including the offers related to direct marketing, should be carried out so as to be understandable for the beneficiary. In particular, the beneficiary should always be able to identify the advertised product and the terms of the offer, including the price (Art. 45 (1))
  • Sales promotions should be so devised as to make it easy for the beneficiary to identify clearly the terms of the offer. Care should be taken not to exaggerate the value of the additional benefit and the price of the main product should not be concealed by the promotional activity (Art. 51)

 

3.2.2. Applicable legislation

 

Note:  the law under the first bullet point below transposes elements of the Product Pricing Directive (PPD) 98/6/EC; in amendments from the Directive 2019/2161, the PPD incorporated a new article 6a which sets out provisions for reduced/ promotional pricing. These should come into force in member states on May 28, 2022, though at the time of writing there has been no transposition in Poland. Commission guidance for the application of the article is here

 

  • Law 9th May 2014 on informing about prices of goods and services PO article 3; the law implements the Product Price Directive 98/6/EC
  • The Unfair Commercial Practices Act UCPA PO / EN. See articles 5 and 6
  • Key case: Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU): C‑476/14 (Citroën/ZLW) Judgement and AG Opinion
  • Decisions of the President of UOKIK, Office of Competition and Consumer Protection: see two cases here

 

Other UCPA prohibitions that apply to marcoms that include prices

 

  • ‘Bait’ advertising, which involves making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price without disclosing the existence of any reasonable grounds the trader may have for believing that he/ she will not be able to offer for supply or to procure another trader to supply, those products or equivalent products at that price for a period that is, and in quantities that are, reasonable having regard to the product, the scale of advertising of the product and the price offered (Art. 7.5)
  • ‘Bait and switch’ advertising, which involves making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price, and then refusing to show the advertised item to consumers or refusing to take orders for the product or to deliver it within a reasonable time, or demonstrating a defective sample, with the intention of promoting a different product (Art. 7.6)
  • Describing a product as ‘gratis’, ‘free’, ‘without charge’ or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the direct costs of responding to the commercial practice and collecting or paying for delivery of the item (Art. 7.20)

 

3.2.3. Key points from C‑476/14 Citroën/ ZLW case

 

  • Where an advertisement mentions the price of a product, the selling price must be stated; this means the final price including VAT and include the 'unavoidable and foreseeable components of the price, components that are necessarily payable by the consumer and constitute the pecuniary consideration for the acquisition of the product concerned' (para. 37 Citroën case). Other price components = integral parts of the final price (para. 23)

 

 

 

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International

SECTION B CONTENT RULES

 

 

This section is longer than most. To help navigate it, some text is 'anchored' and linked to respective headings immediately below

 

 

  1. SELF-REGULATION; the 2024 ICC Code

1.1. General provisions

 
  1. THE LAW 

2.1. General provisions from the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive  (UCPD)
2.2 Specific pricing measures 
2.2.1. Directive 98/6/EC - the Product Price Directive
2.2.2. Extracts from UCPD

2.3. The AVMS Directive 

2.4. The Empco Directive 

2.5. The Green Claims Directive 


 

1. SELF-REGULATION; THE ICC CODE
The 11th edition of the ICC Code was published September 2024.
We show additions/amends in italics together with the previous versions, so you can see developments
We have not included e.g.scope, definitions, for reasons of space; these are often important and should be checked 

 

1.1 General provisions 

 

Basic principles (Art. 1)

 

  • All marketing communications should be legal, decent, honest and truthful;
  • All marketing communications should be prepared with a due sense of social, environmental and professional responsibility and should conform to the principles of fair competition, as generally accepted in business;
  • No communication should be such as to impair public confidence in marketing.
  • No communication should in the content and manner made undermine the public’s trust and confidence in marketing communications.

 

Social responsibility (Art. 2)

 
  • Marketing communications should respect human dignity and should not incite or condone any form of discrimination, including that based upon ethnic or national origin, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation;
  • Marketing communications should respect human dignity and should not incite or condone any form of discrimination, including that based upon ethnic or national origin, religion, gender, age, physical attributes, mental health, disability, or sexual orientation. Marketers are encouraged to be mindful of diversity and inclusion (see ICC guidance on diversity and inclusion in advertising, 2023) and seek to avoid stereotypes and objectification. Explanation Stereotyping is the practice of referring to or playing on an oversimplified and untrue notion of a particular group, sometimes employing archetypal traits. Objectification means representing people not as persons or individuals but as objects of sexual or other templating character.
  • No marketing communication should be associated with corrupt practices (See ICC Rules on Combatting Corruption which defines in Part 1 “Corruption” or “Corrupt Practice(s)” as used in these rules shall include bribery, extortion or solicitation, trading in influence and laundering the proceeds of these practices) of any kind.
     Marketers should take due account of the ICC Rules on Combating Corruption and other ICC anti-corruption tools 

Marketing communications should not:

 

  • without justifiable reason play on fear or exploit misfortune or suffering;
  • appear to condone or incite violent, unlawful anti-social behavior or animal abuse;
  • appear to encourage or condone irresponsible use or harmful behaviour;
  • play on superstition;
  • marketing communications should not appear to condone or encourage actions which contravene the law, self-regulatory codes or generally accepted standards concerning climate change, sustainable and environmentally responsible behaviour;
  • they should respect the principles set out in Chapter D on environmental claims in marketing communications and be mindful of the ICC Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications
 

Decency​ (Art. 3)

 
  • Marketing communications should not contain statements or audio or visual treatments which offend standards of decency currently prevailing in the country and culture concerned.
  • Marketing communications should not contain anything which offends standards of decency currently prevailing in the country and culture concerned and strive to respect social norms and tradition;
  • Marketing communications should not incite or condone hate speech by using elements associated to it, such as false testimonials or endorsements, conspiracy theories, or other means to circulate harmful content
 

Honesty (Art. 4)

 
  • Marketing communications should be so framed as not to abuse the trust of consumers or exploit their lack of experience or knowledge;
  • Relevant factors likely to affect consumers’ decisions should be communicated in such a way and at such a time that consumers can take them into account.
  • Marketing communications should be structured in a way that does not take advantage of consumer trust or exploit their inexperience or limited understanding;
  • Relevant factors that can affect consumers’ decisions should be communicated in a manner and at a time that allows them to consider them effectively;
  • High-pressure marketing tactics which might be construed as harassment or hamper consumer choice, should not be used;
  • Marketing communications should not abuse the trust of consumers by using deceptive practices or spreading disinformation using elements such as false testimonials or endorsements, conspiracy theories, such as bait and switch or clickbait. Nor should they knowingly support, engage in, facilitate or fund illegal activities. See ICC Statement on Misplaced Digital Ads.
 

Truthfulness (Art. 5)

 

  • Marketing communications should be truthful and not misleading;
  • Marketing communications should not contain any statement, claim or audio or visual treatment which, directly or by implication, omission, ambiguity or exaggeration, is likely to mislead the consumer, in particular, but not exclusively, with regard to:
  • Marketing communications should not contain any claim likely to mislead the consumer, regardless of how it is conveyed – by text, sound, visual elements or any combinations thereof – and regardless of how the misleading effect occurs – directly or by implication, omission, ambiguity or exaggeration. The combination of elements used in a marketing communication provides the net impression of a claim and control how it is interpreted. This applies especially, but is not limited to:
     
    • characteristics of the product which are material, i.e. likely to influence the consumer’s choice, such as the nature, composition, method and date of manufacture, range of use, efficiency and performance, benefits, quantity, commercial or geographical origin or environmental, social or economic impact;
    • the value of the product, and the total price and taxes to be paid by the consumer;
    • terms for the delivery, provision, exchange, return, repair and maintenance;
    • terms of guarantee;
    • copyright and industrial property rights such as patents, trade marks, designs and models and trade names;
    • the full provision, activation or automatic renewal of a subscription or service, copyright and industrial property rights such as patents, trademarks, designs, models, trade names and other distinguishable marks;
    • compliance with standards; compliance with certification and standards or any other use of quality marks, logos (e.g. environmental, sustainable) or recognition symbols;
    • official recognition or approval, awards such as medals, prizes and diplomas;
    • sponsorship, agreement or cooperation with a particular company or brand;
    • the extent of benefits for charitable causes;
    • respect of human rights or sustainable behaviour.

  • Audiovisual materials such as photos, video, sounds or other illustrations that are likely to mislead the consumer with regard to either a product’s characteristics, performance, benefits, quality and effects to be expected, or the association of a person or organisation with the product, should not be used, including where these are misleading because they have been altered or enhanced (e.g. AI generated or by so-called photo and video editing);
  • Communications that reflect specific commitments or goals that are aspirational in nature and not likely to be met until many years in the future (e.g. carbon negative, climate positive, diversity, equality, well-being etc.) require that the company is able to demonstrate, in concrete terms, that it has a reasonable capacity and methodological approach to meet such a commitment. Qualifiers should be included if elements or impacts will occur in the future.

 

Substantiation (Art. 6)

 

  • Descriptions, claims or illustrations relating to verifiable facts in marketing communications should be capable of substantiation. Claims that state or imply that a particular level or type of substantiation exists must have at least the level of substantiation advertised. Substantiation should be available so that evidence can be produced without delay and upon request to the self-regulatory organisations responsible for the implementation of the Code.
  • Marketers should have a reasonable basis for making claims relating to verifiable facts at the time the claim is made. Claims that state or imply that a particular level or type of substantiation exists should have at least the level of substantiation advertised. Supporting documentation should be provided promptly upon request to the self-regulatory organisations responsible for the application and enforcement of the Code. The standard of proof required generally depends on factors such as the type of claim, the product, the consequences of a false claim and the benefits of a truthful claim;
  • Substantiation should be based on documentation, tests or other factual evidence that is valid, reliable and sufficiently precise to support the claim made. In the absence of required substantiation, the claim would be regarded as misleading. 
  • Regarding substantiation of environmental claims, see Article D1.

 

 

Identification clauses

 

identification and transparency (Art. 7)

 

  • Marketing communications should be clearly distinguishable as such, whatever their form and whatever the medium used. When an advertisement, including so-called “native advertising”, appears in a medium containing news or editorial matter, it should be so presented that it is readily recognisable as an advertisement and where appropriate, labelled as such. The true commercial purpose of marketing communications should be transparent and not misrepresent their true commercial purpose. Hence, a communication promoting the sale of a product should not be disguised as, for example, market research, consumer surveys, user-generated content, private blogs, private postings on social media or independent reviews.
  • Marketing communications, regardless of format or medium, should be easily identifiable, allowing consumers to clearly distinguish between commercial and non-commercial content;
  • Identification disclosures should be prominent, clear, easily legible and appear in close proximity to the commercial message where they are unlikely to be overlooked by consumers;
  • Marketing communications should be transparent about their true commercial purpose, and not misrepresent it. Hence, a communication promoting the sale of goods, or the contracting of a service should not be disguised, for example as news, editorial matter, market research, consumer surveys, consumer reviews, user-generated content, private blogs, private postings on social media or independent reviews etc.;
  • In the case of mixed content, such as with news or editorial matter or social media, the marketing communication element should be made clearly distinguishable as such, and its commercial nature should be transparent. It should be so presented that it is readily and immediately recognisable as a marketing communication and where appropriate, labelled as such.

 

identity of the marketer (Art. 8)

 

  • The identity of the marketer should be transparent. Marketing communications should, where appropriate, include contact information to enable the consumer to get in touch with the marketer without difficulty. The above does not apply to communications with the sole purpose of attracting attention to communication activities to follow (e.g. so-called “teaser advertisements”).
 
Use of technical/ scientific data and terminology (Art. 9)

 

  • Marketing communications should not
     
  • misuse technical data, e.g. research results or quotations from technical and scientific publications;
  • present statistics in such a way as to exaggerate the validity of a product claim;
  • use scientific terminology or vocabulary in such a way as falsely to suggest that a product claim has scientific validity or misuse any label, symbol, logo, or seal to that effect.

 

 

Promotional terms/ dark patterns 

 

Use of 'free' and 'guarantee' (Art. 10)

 

  • The term "free", e.g. “free gift”, "free trial",  or “free offer”, should be used only
     
    • where the offer involves no obligation whatsoever; or
    • where the only obligation is to pay shipping and handling charges which should not exceed the cost estimated to be incurred by the marketer, or
    • where the only obligation is to pay the delivery costs which should not exceed the cost estimated to be incurred by the marketer, should be disclosed upfront, or
    • in conjunction with the purchase of another product, provided the price of that product has not been increased to cover all or part of the cost of the offer.
       
  • Where free trial, free subscription and similar offers e.g. an introduction at reduced price convert to paid transactions at the end of the free period, the terms and conditions of the paid conversion should be clearly, prominently and unambiguously disclosed before the consumer accepts the offer. Likewise, where a product is to be returned by the consumer at the end of the free period it should be made clear at the outset who will bear the cost for that;
  • The procedure for returning the product should be as simple as possible, and any time limit should be clearly disclosed. See also Article C12 Right of withdrawal;
  • Marketing communications should not state or imply that a “guarantee”, “warranty” or other expression having substantially the same meaning, offers the consumer rights additional to those provided by law when it does not;
  • The terms of any guarantee or warranty, including the name and address of the guarantor, should be easily available to the consumer and limitations on consumer rights or remedies, where permitted by law, should be clear and conspicuous.

 

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Presentation of the offer (Art. 11)

 

  • The terms and conditions of any offer including the identity of the marketer, full name and address along with information on how to ask questions or lodge complaints should be transparent to consumers. There should be a clear process which leads to the necessary steps to place an order, purchase, conclude a contract or any other commitment. Wherever appropriate, the essential points of the offer should be simply and clearly summarised together in one place. Essential points of the offer may be clearly repeated but should not be scattered throughout an extensive presentation;
  • Offers should not be presented in a manner that conceals or obfuscates material factors, e.g. price, additional costs, availability or other essential sales conditions, likely to influence consumers’ decisions;
  • Any image, sound or text which, by its size, volume or any other visual characteristic, is likely to materially reduce or obscure the legibility and clarity of the offer should be avoided. When an offer involves different choices those should be clear and unambiguous, and their consequences easy to understand for consumers;
  • When the presentation of an offer also features products not included in the offer, or where additional products need to be purchased to enable the consumer to use the product on offer, this should be made clear in the original offer. For offers involving promotional items, see Chapter A: Sales Promotion;
  • Before making any commitment, consumers should be able to easily access the information needed to understand the exact nature of the product and all conditions of the offer, as well as their rights and how to exert them. Marketing communications inviting consumers to contact the marketer for further information of an offer should be transparent on the cost of communications therefore (see also Article C4);
  • Where appropriate, the marketer should respond by accepting or rejecting the consumer’s order. The fulfilment of any obligation arising from the offer should be prompt and efficient.

 

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 Automatic renewals (Art.12)

 

  • Advertising and marketing materials should clearly indicate when products are available as an automatic renewal rather than a one-time purchase. (See ICC Principles on Automatic Subscription Renewals. Essentially, marketers should obtain consumers’ consent to the material terms of an automatic renewal at the start of the contract);
  • The communication should not be misleading as to how the mechanism works or its consequences. The terms of renewal should be easily accessible for consumers before making any purchase. Where an automatic renewal begins with a free trial or other introductory offer Article 10 applies.

 

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Use of “guarantee” (Art. 13)

 

  • Marketing communications should not state or imply that a “guarantee”, “warranty” or similar terms, provide extra consumer rights additional to those provided by law unless they genuinely do. The terms of any guarantee or warranty, including the guarantor’s name and address, should be easily available to consumers and limitations on consumer rights or remedies, where permitted by law, should be transparent and prominently visible.

 

Comparative and competitive 

 

Comparisons (Art. 14)​

 

  • Marketing communications containing comparisons should be so designed that the comparison is not likely to mislead, and should comply with the principles of fair competition. Points of comparison should be based on facts which can be substantiated and should not be unfairly selected.
  • Marketing communications containing comparisons should be carefully designed so as not to mislead and should comply with the principles of fair competition. Points of comparison should be based on verifiable facts. Product or price advantages that are demonstrable per se should not be exaggerated or overdramatised. Comparisons should be clear whether they are to a competitor’s product or to another version of the same product.

 

Exploitation of goodwill (Art. 15)

 

  • Marketing communications should not make unjustifiable or unauthorised use of the name, initials, logo and/or trademarks of another firm, company or institution;
  • Marketing communications should not in any way take undue advantage of another firm’s, individual’s or institution’s goodwill in its name, brands or other intellectual property, or take advantage of the goodwill earned by other marketing campaigns without obtaining prior consent.

 

Imitation (Art. 16)

 

  • Marketing communications should not imitate those of another marketer in any way likely to mislead or confuse the consumer, for example through the general layout, text, slogan, visual treatment, music or sound effects;
  • Where a marketer has established a distinctive marketing communications campaign in one or more countries, other marketers should not imitate that campaign in other countries where the marketer who originated the campaign may operate, thereby preventing the extension of the campaign to those countries within a reasonable period of time
  • Marketing communications should not imitate another marketer’s work in a manner that is likely to mislead or confuse the consumer. This includes similarities in general layout, text, slogan, visual treatment, music or sound effects;
  • Where a marketer has established a distinctive marketing communications campaign in one or more markets, other marketers should not imitate that campaign in other markets where the original marketer might operate. This will consequently prevent blocking the expansion of the campaign to those markets within a reasonable period of time.

 

 

Denigration (Art. 17)

 

  • Marketing communications should not denigrate any person or group of persons, firm, organisation, industrial or commercial activity, profession or product, or seek to bring it or them into public contempt or ridicule.

 

Testimonials/ Influencers 

 

Testimonials (Art. 13)

 

  • Marketing communications should not contain or refer to any testimonial, endorsement or supportive documentation unless it is genuine, verifiable and relevant
  • Testimonials or endorsements which have become obsolete or misleading through passage of time should not be used.

 

Testimonials and endorsements; influencer marketing communications (Art. 18)

 

  • 18.1 General principles. Marketing communications should not contain or refer to any testimonial, endorsement or supportive documentation unless it is genuine, verifiable and relevant. Testimonials or endorsements, including influencer marketing communications, which have become obsolete or misleading through passage of time should not be used. The sponsored nature of a testimonial or endorsement should be made clear through an appropriate disclosure if the form and format of the communication would not otherwise be understood to constitute a sponsored message;
  • 18.2 Influencer marketing communications. All influencer marketing communications (including promotions of an influencer’s own products) should be designed and presented in such a way that it is immediately identifiable as such. Identification should be appropriate to the medium and message, particularly in the context of social media. Marketers and their influencers, as well as creators, should ensure the content is properly presented as marketing communications in accordance with the principles of identification and transparency (see Article 7). Content uploaded concerning third parties constitutes a marketing communication only if the influencer has received some form of compensation from the brand, whether financial or through other arrangements and this should be immediately clear from the context or the content. Each time the communication is shared, the connection between the marketer and the influencer should be transparent. Affiliate links to products on external third-party websites should be disclosed as such and their commercial nature transparent. In addition to the provisions in Article 7, identification disclosures should not be obscured by or hidden among other content. General disclosures on websites, in the terms and conditions at the end of a piece of content, buried in a string of hashtags, or in the ‘see more’ section are not sufficient. Marketers should make sure that influencer marketing communications posted on their behalf include relevant qualifiers or statements to avoid misleading consumers about the standards, qualities, attributes, costs or other features of the product involved. Influencers should not create social media posts or other messages alleging the content is sponsored by a business when they have no agreement with the brand. Such false statements should be regarded as marketing communications promoting the influencer’s own activity or brand, and hence as misleading (see Article 5);
  • 18.3 Use of minors When the influencer is a minor (The term “minors” here refers to persons of such age that they, under the applicable law, lack legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement, e.g. an influencer contract with a marketer), marketing communications should be based on a contract providing for explicit parental or guardian consent and protecting the minor against any undue exploitation;
  • Marketers should respect the requirements set out in Chapter E concerning the privacy of children, teens and minors;
  • Marketing communications should clearly disclose the connection to the marketer, including if relevant, that the minor is receiving economic or other compensation. All content featuring minors should be age-appropriate and free from inappropriate products, language, themes, or behaviour; further on the special responsibility for children and teens, see Chapter E.

 

 

Portrayal or imitation of persons and references to personal property (Art. 19)

 

  • Marketing communications should not portray or refer to any persons, whether in a private or a public capacity, unless prior permission has been obtained from that person; nor should marketing communications without prior permission depict or refer to any person’s property in a way likely to convey the impression of a personal endorsement of the product or organisation involved.

 

Children/ teens 

 

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Children and teens (Art. 20)

 

  • Special care should be taken in marketing communications directed to or featuring children or teens. Marketing communications should not exploit the natural credulity of children or the lack of experience of teens and should not strain their sense of loyalty. In directing marketing communications to children and/or teens, the principles of this Code should be applied with due regard to the age and other characteristics of the actual target group, their differing cognitive abilities, and developing personal privacy rights independent of parents or guardians.;
  • Marketers should respect standards and laws prohibiting the marketing of products that are subject to age restrictions such as alcoholic beverages, gambling and tobacco to minors (The term minor here refers to those below the legal purchase age, i.e. the age at which national legislation permits the purchase or consumption of such restricted products. In countries where purchase age and consumption age are not the same, the higher age applies in relevant markets). 

 

For further specific rules, see Chapter E – Children and teens.

 

.........................................................

 

Safety and health (Art. 21)

 

  • Marketing communications should not, without justification on educational or social grounds, contain any visual portrayal or any description of potentially dangerous practices, or situations which show a disregard for safety or health, as defined by local national standards;
  • Instructions for use should include appropriate safety warnings and, where necessary, disclaimers;
  • Children should be shown to be under adult supervision whenever a product or an activity involves a safety and/ or health risk;
  • Information provided with the product should include proper directions for use and full instructions covering health and safety aspects whenever necessary;
  • Such health and safety warnings should be made clear by the use of pictures, sound, text or a combination of these.

 

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 Data protection and privacy (Art. 22)
We haven't set out this article as it's a channel rule and well covered elsewhere, largely by the law 

 

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Unsolicited products and undisclosed costs (Art. 23) 
 
  • Marketing communications associated with the practice of sending unsolicited products to consumers who are then asked for payment (inertia selling), including statements or suggestions that recipients are required to accept and pay for such products, should not be used;
  • Marketing communications which solicit a response constituting an order for which payment will be required (e.g. an entry in a publication) should make this unambiguously clear;
  • Marketing communications soliciting orders should not be presented in a form which might be mistaken for an invoice, or otherwise falsely suggest that payment is due;
  • For specific rules on respecting consumers’ wishes, see Chapter C, Article C6.
 
Articles 24-26, which complete the General Provisions section, are not included here as they are largely procedural
 

 

 

  • An 'environmental' claim is defined in the ICC Code as any claim in which explicit or implicit reference is made to the environmental or ecological aspects relating to the production, packaging, distribution, use/consumption or disposal of products. Environmental claims can be made in any medium, including labelling, package inserts, promotional and point-of-sales materials, product literature, as well as digital interactive media means any statement, symbol, sound, or graphic that indicates or implies an environmental aspect of a product, a component or ingredient of it, packaging or constituent of it, or an activity, facility or operation. The full scope and application of Chapter D has been extracted here 

 

Article D1. Substantiation 
 
  • All express or implied environmental claims should be substantiated by reliable scientific evidence11.(TT Reliable scientific evidence is the type of evidence likely to be recognised by experts in the field. Such evidence may, depending on the claim, consist of tests, analyses, calculations, studies, reports, surveys or other information) Care should be taken to assure that the substantiating data relied upon reflects the relevant product or activity and the claimed environmental aspects, attributes or performance featured in the marketing communication;
  • To substantiate aspirational claims or claims expressing goals or commitments related to achieving certain environmental metrics in the future, a marketer should be able to demonstrate that it has reasonable plans in place to work in good faith towards achieving the stated aspiration, goal or commitment in the timeframe specified;
  • As described in Article 6 of the Code, marketers need to monitor and review environmental claims regularly to ensure ongoing compliance, accuracy, and relevance. Typically, reliable scientific evidence, such as test data, analyses, studies and other documentation, are required to meet this standard;
  • See the Framework for further details on substantiation.

 

D2. Honest and truthful presentation

 

Environmental marketing communications should be so framed so as not to abuse to take advantage of consumers’ concern for the environment, nor exploit their possible lack of environmental knowledge;

  • D2.1 Marketing communications should not contain any statement or visual treatment environmental claims which are likely to mislead consumers in any way about the environmental aspects or advantages of products what's being communicated or about actions being taken by the marketer in favour of the environment.
  • Overstatement of Marketing communications should not overstate environmental attributes, such as highlighting a marginal improvement as a major gain, or using statistics in a misleading manner, e.g. “we have doubled the recycled content of our product” when there was only a small percentage of recycled content used to begin with) are examples. Marketing communications that refer to specific products or activities should not imply, without appropriate substantiation, that they extend to the whole performance of a company, group or industry;
  • An environmental claim should be relevant to the particular product being promoted specific focus of the marketing communication e.g. the products or activities in question. This should relate only to aspects or attributes that already exist or are likely to be realised during a product’s life, including customary and usual disposal or reasonably foreseeable improper disposal. It should be clear to what the claim relates, e.g. the product, a specific ingredient or aspect of the product, or its packaging or a specific ingredient constituent of the packaging or the marketer’s facilities or operations. A pre-existing but previously undisclosed aspect should not be presented as new. Environmental claims should be up to date and should, where appropriate, be reassessed with regard to relevant developments; Aspirational claims should have reasonable plans in place to work in good faith towards achieving the stated aspiration, goal or commitment in the timeframe specified;
  • Improvements related to a product and its packaging should normally be presented separately, and not be combined in keeping with the principle that claims should be specific and clearly relate to the product, an ingredient or element of the product, or the packaging or constituent of the packaging;
  • A claim concerning a combination of elements such as packaging and product combination can only be made if it really concerns both. This would not be the case, for example, if the claim only concerns the product packaging and the significant impacts of the packaging and product combination are different from the significant impacts of the packaging alone. Claims concerning a combination of elements, for example, inclusion of recycled content in a product or product packaged in compostable packaging, should both be supported by appropriate scientific evidence and qualified as needed to properly convey relevant limitations (e.g. our products include 20% recycled content and our packaging is compostable in industrial facilities, which are limited and may not be available near you);
  • Marketing communications that refer to specific environmental claims should not imply, without appropriate substantiation, that they extend to the whole performance of a product, company, group, sector, or industry. Such specific claims should be qualified as needed to avoid a misleading impression, i.e. if the limited nature of the claim is not otherwise clear from the claim itself or the context in which the claim is presented, then the claim should be appropriately qualified;
  • A pre-existing but previously undisclosed aspect should not be presented as “new”;
  • Environmental claims should not state or imply that reductions or benefits required by law or mandatory standards are voluntary.

 

D 2.2 Vague or general, non-specific claims 

  • Vague or general non-specific claims of environmental benefit, which may convey a range of meanings to consumers. Such claims should be made only if they are valid, without qualification, in all reasonably foreseeable circumstances. If this is not the case, general environmental claims should either be qualified or avoided. In particular Claims such as “environmentally friendly,” “ecologically safe,” “green,” “sustainable,” “carbon friendly” or any other claim implying that a product or an activity has no impact — or only a positive impact — on the environment, should not be used without qualification unless a very high standard of proof is available. As long as there are no definitive, generally accepted methods for measuring sustainability or confirming its accomplishment, no claim to have achieved it should be made; 
  • Special care should be taken before claiming sustainability achievements. Marketers should be cognisant of ongoing work to establish relevant methods to measure and validate sustainability. Relevant limitations should be made clear. An unqualified “sustainability” claim may be understood to involve company actions beyond efforts to reduce environmental impacts, depending on the context. Claims may be perceived as stating or implying that they involve social and economic impacts, such as support for fair working conditions, diversity and inclusion, communities, or charities, or the like, as well. Hence, marketers making sustainability claims should be mindful that consumers may take away a broader corporate social responsibility message. Marketers should evaluate relevant substantiation for such messages and consider whether claims should be qualified accordingly;
  • A specific claim about individual environmental attributes supported by reliable scientific evidence could be linked to a claim of “sustainability” (for example, “this part of our product is sustainable because it’s made of 100% post-consumer recycled content and is recyclable”); however, marketers should not state or imply that an entire product, facility or operation is “sustainable” without qualification simply because it has some positive environmental benefits.

 

D 2.2 Qualifications

 

  • Qualifications should be clear, prominent and readily understandable; the qualification should appear in close proximity to the claim being qualified, to ensure that they are read understood together;
  • There may be circumstances where it is appropriate to use a qualifier that refers a consumer to a refer a consumer to a QR code or a website where accurate additional information may be obtained. This technique is particularly suitable for communicating about after-use disposal. For example, it is not possible to provide a complete list of areas where a product may be accepted for recycling on a product package. A claim such as “Recyclable in many only in some communities, visit [URL] to check on if there are facilities near you,” provides both the relevant qualifier (that available recycling facilities are limited) plus a means of advising consumers where to locate information on communities where a particular material or product is accepted for recycling.

 

D3. Scientific research

 

  • Marketing communications should use technical demonstrations or scientific findings about the environmental impact of what's advertised only when they are backed by reliable scientific evidence;
  • In line with article 9, environmental jargon or scientific jargon or terminology is acceptable provided it is relevant to the claimed environmental performance and used in a way that can be readily understood by those to whom the message is directed;
  • An environmental claim relating to health, safety or any other benefit should be made only where it is supported by reliable scientific evidence. Also, such claim may require different reliable scientific evidence as they relate to aspects other than the environment, see Article D6.

 

D4. Comparisons

 

  • Any comparative claim should be specific and the basis for the comparison should be clear and understandable to reasonable consumers​. Environmental superiority over competitors should be claimed only when an significant advantage can be demonstrated. Products being compared Whatever is being compared in a marketing communication should meet the same needs and be intended for the same purpose;
  • Comparative claims, whether the comparison is with the marketer’s own previous process or product or with those of a competitor, should be worded in such a way as to make it clear whether the advantage being claimed is absolute or relative and whether it relates to the overall benefit or a specific benefit;
  • Improvements related to a product and its packaging should be presented separately, and should not be combined, in keeping with the principle that claims should be specific and clearly relate to the product, an ingredient of the product, or the packaging or ingredient of the packaging.

 

 

D5. Product life-cycle

 

  • Environmental claims should not be presented in such a way as to imply that they relate to more stages of a product’s life-cycle, or to more of its properties, than is justified by the evidence; it should always be clear to which stage or which property a claim refers. A life-cycle benefits claim should be substantiated by a full life cycle analysis (cradle to grave). If an alternative lifecycle analysis is used (e.g. cradle to gate), the more limited scope of that lifecycle analysis should be disclosed;

Article D6 – Claims regarding components and elements

  • When a claim refers to the reduction of components or elements having an environmental impact, it should be clear what has been reduced. Such claims are justified only if they relate to alternative processes, components or elements which result in a significant meaningful environmental improvement;
  • Environmental claims should not be based on the absence of a component, ingredient, feature or impact that has never been associated with the product category concerned unless qualified to indicate that the product or category has never been associated with the particular component, ingredient, feature or impact. Such claims could be justified if they respond to potential misperceptions about the use of the identified component, ingredient, feature, or impact. If so, qualifiers may be needed to avoid consumers being misled about the nature of the product, process, activity etc.Conversely, generic features or ingredients, which are common to all or most products in the category concerned, or required by law, standards or otherwise, should not be presented as if they were a unique or remarkable characteristic of the product being promoted;
  • Claims that a product does not contain a particular ingredient or component, e.g. that the product is “X-free”, should be used only when the level of the specified substance does not exceed that of an acknowledged trace contaminant or background level Note: “Trace contaminant” and “background level” are not precise terms. “Trace contaminant” implies primarily manufacturing impurity, whereas “background level” is typically used in the context of naturally occurring substances. Claims often need to be based on specific substance-by-substance assessment to demonstrate that the level is below that causing harm. Also, the exact definition of trace contaminants may depend on the product area concerned. If the substance is not added intentionally during processing, and manufacturing operations limit the potential for cross-contamination, a claim such as “no intentionally added xx” may be appropriate. However, if achieving the claimed reduction results in an increase in other harmful materials, the claim may be misleading. Claims that a product, package or component is “free” of a chemical or substance often are intended as an express or implied health claim in addition to an environmental claim. The substantiation necessary to support an express or implied health or safety claim may be different from the substantiation required to support the environmental benefit claim. The advertiser must be sure to have reliable scientific evidence to support an express or implied health and safety claim in accordance with other relevant provisions of the Code;
  • When the absence of a certain component or ingredient is claimed, directly or implicitly, to offer an environmental benefit versus another product, the general rules on comparisons apply, see Article D4 and General Provisions Article 14.

 

D7. Certifications, signs and symbols 

 

  • Environmental signs, logos, labels, or symbols should be used in marketing communication only when the source of those signs or symbols is clearly indicated and there is no likelihood of confusion over their meaning or when compulsory by law. Such signs and symbols marks should not be used in such a way as to falsely suggest official approval or third-party certification.

 

D6. Waste handling

 

  • Environmental claims referring to waste handling are acceptable provided that the recommended method of separation, collection, processing or disposal is generally accepted or conveniently available to a reasonable proportion of consumers in the area concerned. If not, the extent of availability should be accurately described.
 
D8. Environmental attribute claims
 
  • Environmental claims referring to a product’s makeup or constituents (for example, made with recycled or renewable content) or waste handling (for example, recyclable or compostable), should truthfully represent the attributes of the advertised product based on reliable scientific evidence as set out in Article D1. A product claimed to involve recycled or renewable content that is made from less than substantially all recycled or renewable content should avoid any risk of misleading consumers, e.g. by disclosing the percentage. A product claimed to be recyclable or compostable should disclose the extent of availability of these disposal methods if availability is limited;
  • Marketing communications that include compostability claims should disclose if a product is compostable only in industrial settings, and if so, whether facilities are limited, or if the resulting compost is subject to any use limits. A claim that a product’s packaging is refillable, or reusable should provide handling instructions to maintain safety.

 

D9. Responsibility

 

  • For this chapter, the rules on responsibility laid down in the general provisions apply (see article 24).

 

 

Additional guidance

 

 

 

This sector has a separate database on this single topic. Access via the drop-down on the home page 

We have not set out individual clauses below, therefore. 

 

Applicable self-regulation 

 

  • Article 20 from the General Provisions of the iCC Code above and Chapter E; see above or here 
  • ICC Statement on code interpretation and ICC reference guide on advertising to children here
  • ICC toolkit: Marketing and Advertising to Children (2017) here
  • Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communications here
  • WFA: The Responsible Advertising and Children Programme (RAC); Marketing to children 

 

 

 

This sector has a separate database on this single topic. Access via the drop-down on the home page 

 

Applicable self-regulation and legislation 

 
  • ICC Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communications here (EN)
  • The EU Pledge, enhanced July 2021 effective Jan 2022
  • Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods
  • Regulation 432/2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims on food 
  • Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers
  • Regulation 609/2013 on food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control

 

 

 

This sector has a separate database on this single topic. Access via the drop-down on the home page of this website 

 

Applicable self-regulation and legislation 

 

 

Legislation 

 

Article 22, AVMS Directive. Television advertising and teleshopping for alcoholic beverages shall comply with the following criteria:

 

  1. it may not be aimed specifically at minors or, in particular, depict minors consuming these beverages;
  2. it shall not link the consumption of alcohol to enhanced physical performance or to driving;
  3. it shall not create the impression that the consumption of alcohol contributes towards social or sexual success;
  4. it shall not claim that alcohol has therapeutic qualities or that it is a stimulant, a sedative or a means of resolving personal conflicts;
  5. it shall not encourage immoderate consumption of alcohol or present abstinence or moderation in a negative light;
  6. it shall not place emphasis on high alcoholic content as being a positive quality of the beverages.

 

 

2.1 General Provisions from the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC (UCPD) 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02005L0029-20220528 (consolidated text 28/05/22)

 

Directive 2019/2161 amended the UCPD setting out some new information requirements for search rankings and consumer reviews, new pricing information in the context of automated decision-making and profiling of consumer behaviour (amending Directive 2011/83/EU, not shown below), and price reduction information under the Product Pricing Directive 98/6/EC. Potentially significant for multinational advertisers is the amerndment of article 6 of the UCPD, adding the clause (c) shown below in italics (as are other amends). Recitals related to this clause, which provide some context, are here. Helpful October 2021 explanatory piece on the Omnibus Directive from A&L Goodbody via Lex here

 

Guidance 

 

In December 2021, the European Commission issued Guidance on the interpretation and application of the UCPD, updating the 2016 version. This is a significant document that covers, for example, guidance on environmental claims, and references relevant case law from a number of countries. It is the definitive guidance on how to apply the most important consumer protection - as that relates to commercial communications - regulation in the EEA

 

Article 6. Misleading actions

 

1.   A commercial practice shall be regarded as misleading if it contains false information and is therefore untruthful or in any way, including overall presentation, deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer, even if the information is factually correct, in relation to one or more of the following elements, and in either case causes or is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise:

 

(a) the existence or nature of the product;

(b) the main characteristics of the product, such as its availability, benefits, risks, execution, composition, accessories, after-sale customer assistance and complaint handling, method and date of manufacture or provision, delivery, fitness for purpose, usage, quantity, specification, geographical or commercial origin or the results to be expected from its use, or the results and material features of tests or checks carried out on the product;

(c) the extent of the trader's commitments, the motives for the commercial practice and the nature of the sales process, any statement or symbol in relation to direct or indirect sponsorship or approval of the trader or the product;

(d) the price or the manner in which the price is calculated, or the existence of a specific price advantage;

(e) the need for a service, part, replacement or repair;

(f) the nature, attributes and rights of the trader or his agent, such as his identity and assets, his qualifications, status, approval, affiliation or connection and ownership of industrial, commercial or intellectual property rights or his awards and distinctions;

(g) the consumer's rights, including the right to replacement or reimbursement under Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees (8), or the risks he may face.

 

2.   A commercial practice shall also be regarded as misleading if, in its factual context, taking account of all its features and circumstances, it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise, and it involves:

 

(a) any marketing of a product, including comparative advertising, which creates confusion with any products, trade marks, trade names or other distinguishing marks of a competitor;

(b) non-compliance by the trader with commitments contained in codes of conduct by which the trader has undertaken to be bound, where:

 

(i) the commitment is not aspirational but is firm and is capable of being verified, and

(ii) the trader indicates in a commercial practice that he is bound by the code.

 

(c) any marketing of a good, in one Member State, as being identical to a good marketed in other Member States, while that good has significantly different composition or characteristics, unless justified by legitimate and objective factors.

 

 

Article 7. Misleading omissions

 

1. A commercial practice shall be regarded as misleading if, in its factual context, taking account of all its features and circumstances and the limitations of the communication medium, it omits material information that the average consumer needs, according to the context, to take an informed transactional decision and thereby causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise.

 

2. It shall also be regarded as a misleading omission when, taking account of the matters described in paragraph 1, a trader hides or provides in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner such material information as referred to in that paragraph or fails to identify the commercial intent of the commercial practice if not already apparent from the context, and where, in either case, this causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise.

 

3. Where the medium used to communicate the commercial practice imposes limitations of space or time, these limitations and any measures taken by the trader to make the information available to consumers by other means shall be taken into account in deciding whether information has been omitted.

 

4. In the case of an invitation to purchase, the following information shall be regarded as material, if not already apparent from the context:

 

(a) the main characteristics of the product, to an extent appropriate to the medium and the product;

(b) the geographical address and the identity of the trader, such as his trading name and, where applicable, the geographical address and the identity of the trader on whose behalf he is acting

(c) the price inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the product means that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated, as well as, where appropriate, all additional freight, delivery or postal charges or, where these charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the fact that such additional charges may be payable;

(d) the arrangements for payment, delivery, performance and the complaint handling policy, if they depart from the requirements of professional diligence;

(e) for products and transactions involving a right of withdrawal or cancellation, the existence of such a right;

(f) for products offered on online marketplaces, whether the third party offering the products is a trader or not, on the basis of the declaration of that third party to the provider of the online marketplace.

 

4a.  When providing consumers with the possibility to search for products offered by different traders or by consumers on the basis of a query in the form of a keyword, phrase or other input, irrespective of where transactions are ultimately concluded, general information, made available in a specific section of the online interface that is directly and easily accessible from the page where the query results are presented, on the main parameters determining the ranking of products presented to the consumer as a result of the search query and the relative importance of those parameters, as opposed to other parameters, shall be regarded as material. This paragraph does not apply to providers of online search engines as defined in point (6) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

 

5. Information requirements established by Community law in relation to commercial communication including advertising or marketing, a non-exhaustive list of which is contained in Annex II, shall be regarded as material.

 

6. Where a trader provides access to consumer reviews of products, information about whether and how the trader ensures that the published reviews originate from consumers who have actually used or purchased the product shall be regarded as material.

 

 

ANNEX I

 

Commercial practices which are in all circumstances considered unfair 

Marcoms-relevant only; see Empco amends below

 

1. Claiming to be a signatory to a code of conduct when the trader is not.

2. Displaying a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent without having obtained the necessary authorisation.

3. Claiming that a code of conduct has an endorsement from a public or other body which it does not have.

4. Claiming that a trader (including his commercial practices) or a product has been approved, endorsed or authorised by a public or private body when he/ it has not or making such a claim without complying with the terms of the approval, endorsement or authorisation.

5. Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price without disclosing the existence of any reasonable grounds the trader may have for believing that he will not be able to offer for supply or to procure another trader to supply, those products or equivalent products at that price for a period that is, and in quantities that are, reasonable having regard to the product, the scale of advertising of the product and the price offered (bait advertising).

6. Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price and then:

 

(a) refusing to show the advertised item to consumers; or

(b) refusing to take orders for it or deliver it within a reasonable time; or

(c) demonstrating a defective sample of it,

 

with the intention of promoting a different product (bait and switch).

 

7. Falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time, or that it will only be available on particular terms for a very limited time, in order to elicit an immediate decision and deprive consumers of sufficient opportunity or time to make an informed choice.

9. Stating or otherwise creating the impression that a product can legally be sold when it cannot.

10. Presenting rights given to consumers in law as a distinctive feature of the trader's offer.

11. Using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer (advertorial). This is without prejudice to Council Directive 89/552/EEC (1).

11a.  Providing search results in response to a consumer’s online search query without clearly disclosing any paid advertisement or payment specifically for achieving higher ranking of products within the search results.

13. Promoting a product similar to a product made by a particular manufacturer in such a manner as deliberately to mislead the consumer into believing that the product is made by that same manufacturer when it is not.

16. Claiming that products are able to facilitate winning in games of chance.

17. Falsely claiming that a product is able to cure illnesses, dysfunction or malformations.

18. Passing on materially inaccurate information on market conditions or on the possibility of finding the product with the intention of inducing the consumer to acquire the product at conditions less favourable than normal market conditions.

19. Claiming in a commercial practice to offer a competition or prize promotion without awarding the prizes described or a reasonable equivalent.

20. Describing a product as ‘gratis’, ‘free’, ‘without charge’ or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding to the commercial practice and collecting or paying for delivery of the item.

21. Including in marketing material an invoice or similar document seeking payment which gives the consumer the impression that he has already ordered the marketed product when he has not.

22. Falsely claiming or creating the impression that the trader is not acting for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession, or falsely representing oneself as a consumer

23b.  Stating that reviews of a product are submitted by consumers who have actually used or purchased the product without taking reasonable and proportionate steps to check that they originate from such consumers.

23c.  Submitting or commissioning another legal or natural person to submit false consumer reviews or endorsements, or misrepresenting consumer reviews or social endorsements, in order to promote products.

 

Aggressive commercial practices

 

26. Making persistent and unwanted solicitations by telephone, fax, e-mail or other remote media except in circumstances and to the extent justified under national law to enforce a contractual obligation. This is without prejudice to Article 10 of Directive 97/7/EC and Directives 95/46/EC (2) and 2002/58/EC.

28. Including in an advertisement a direct exhortation to children to buy advertised products or persuade their parents or other adults to buy advertised products for them. This provision is without prejudice to Article 16 of Directive 89/552/EEC on television broadcasting.

31. Creating the false impression that the consumer has already won, will win, or will on doing a particular act win, a prize or other equivalent benefit, when in fact either:

 

  • there is no prize or other equivalent benefit, or
  • taking any action in relation to claiming the prize or other equivalent benefit is subject to the consumer paying money or incurring a cost.

 

 

 

2.2.1. Directive 98/6/EC on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers

 

Article 2

 

For the purposes of this Directive:

 

(a) selling price shall mean the final price for a unit of the product, or a given quantity of the product, including VAT and all other taxes;

(b) unit price shall mean the final price, including VAT and all other taxes, for one kilogramme, one litre, one metre, one square metre or one cubic metre of the product or a different single unit of quantity which is widely and customarily used in the Member State concerned in the marketing of specific products;

(c) products sold in bulk shall mean products which are not pre-packaged and are measured in the presence of the consumer;

(d) trader shall mean any natural or legal person who sells or offers for sale products which fall within his commercial or professional activity;

(e) consumer shall mean any natural person who buys a product for purposes that do not fall within the sphere of his commercial or professional activity.

 

Article 3

 

1.  The selling price and the unit price shall be indicated for all products referred to in Article 1, the indication of the unit price being subject to the provisions of Article 5. The unit price need not be indicated if it is identical to the sales price.

2.   Member States may decide not to apply paragraph 1 to:

 

  • products supplied in the course of the provision of a service;
  • sales by auction and sales of works of art and antiques.

 

3.   For products sold in bulk, only the unit price must be indicated;

4.   Any advertisement which mentions the selling price of products referred to in Article 1 shall also indicate the unit price subject to Article 5.

 

Article 4

 

1.   The selling price and the unit price must be unambiguous, easily identifiable and clearly legible. Member States may provide that the maximum number of prices to be indicated be limited;

2.   The unit price shall refer to a quantity declared in accordance with national and Community provisions.

 

Where national or Community provisions require the indication of the net weight and the net drained weight for certain pre-packed products, it shall be sufficient to indicate the unit price of the net drained weight.

 

Article 5

 

1.   Member States may waive the obligation to indicate the unit price of products for which such indication would not be useful because of the products' nature or purpose or would be liable to create confusion.

2.   With a view to implementing paragraph 1, Member States may, in the case of non-food products, establish a list of the products or product categories to which the obligation to indicate the unit price shall remain applicable.

 

Article 6a

 

1.   Any announcement of a price reduction shall indicate the prior price applied by the trader for a determined period of time prior to the application of the price reduction.
2.   The prior price means the lowest price applied by the trader during a period of time not shorter than 30 days prior to the application of the price reduction.
3.   Member States may provide for different rules for goods which are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly.
4.   Where the product has been on the market for less than 30 days, Member States may also provide for a shorter period of time than the period specified in paragraph 2.
5.   Member States may provide that, when the price reduction is progressively increased, the prior price is the price without the price reduction before the first application of the price reduction.

 

 

2.2.2. Extracts from UCPD re pricing

 

Article 6

Misleading actions

 

1.   A commercial practice shall be regarded as misleading if it contains false information and is therefore untruthful or in any way, including overall presentation, deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer, even if the information is factually correct, in relation to one or more of the following elements, and in either case causes or is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise:

 

 (d) the price or the manner in which the price is calculated, or the existence of a specific price advantage.

 

Article 7

Misleading omissions

 

4. In the case of an invitation to purchase, the following information shall be regarded as material, if not already apparent from the context:

 

(a) the main characteristics of the product, to an extent appropriate to the medium and the product;

(b) the geographical address and the identity of the trader, such as his trading name and, where applicable, the geographical address and the identity of the trader on whose behalf he is acting;

(c) the price inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the product means that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated, as well as, where appropriate, all additional freight, delivery or postal charges or, where these charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the fact that such additional charges may be payable.

 

Annex I

 

5. Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price without disclosing the existence of any reasonable grounds the trader may have for believing that he will not be able to offer for supply or to procure another trader to supply, those products or equivalent products at that price for a period that is, and in quantities that are, reasonable having regard to the product, the scale of advertising of the product and the price offered (bait advertising).

6. Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price and then:

 

(a) refusing to show the advertised item to consumers; or

(b) refusing to take orders for it or deliver it within a reasonable time; or

(c) demonstrating a defective sample of it,

 

with the intention of promoting a different product ('bait and switch').

 

 

 

2.3.The AVMS Directive and amend 

 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02010L0013-20181218

Content rules excluding alcohol (see pt. 1.5 above) in audiovisual commercial communications

 

Article 9

 

  1. Member States shall ensure that audiovisual commercial communications provided by media service providers under their jurisdiction comply with the following requirements:

 

  1. audiovisual commercial communications shall be readily recognisable as such; surreptitious audiovisual commercial communication shall be prohibited;
  2. audiovisual commercial communications shall not use subliminal techniques;
  3. audiovisual commercial communications shall not;

 

  1. prejudice respect for human dignity;
  2. include or promote any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;
  3. encourage behaviour prejudicial to health or safety;
  4. encourage behaviour grossly prejudicial to the protection of the environment.

 

  1. all forms of audiovisual commercial communications for cigarettes and other tobacco products, as well as for electronic cigarettes and refill containers, shall be prohibited;
  2. audiovisual commercial communications for alcoholic beverages shall not be aimed specifically at minors and shall not encourage immoderate consumption of such beverages;
  3. audiovisual commercial communications for medicinal products and medical treatment available only on prescription in the Member State within whose jurisdiction the media service provider falls shall be prohibited;
  4. audiovisual commercial communications shall not cause physical, mental or moral detriment to minors; therefore, they shall not directly exhort minors to buy or hire a product or service by exploiting their inexperience or credulity, directly encourage them to persuade their parents or others to purchase the goods or services being advertised, exploit the special trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons, or unreasonably show minors in dangerous situations.

 

The AVMS Directive includes some further new provisions from Directive 2018/1808 which may have implications for food and alcohol advertising in particular. See the extracted clauses here, in particular article 4

 

 

2.4. The Empco Directive 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/825/oj
In force from March 2024, meaning that member states have until September 2026 to implement

 

Article 1

Amendments to Directive 2005/29/EC

 

(1) in Article 2, the first paragraph is amended as follows: (b) the following points are added:

 

  • ‘(o) “environmental claim” means any message or representation which is not mandatory under Union or national law, in any form, including text, pictorial, graphic or symbolic representation, such as labels, brand names, company names or product names, in the context of a commercial communication, and which states or implies that a product, product category, brand or trader has a positive or zero impact on the environment or is less damaging to the environment than other products, product categories, brands or traders, or has improved its impact over time;
  • (p) “generic environmental claim” means any environmental claim made in written or oral form, including through audiovisual media, that is not included on a sustainability label and where the specification of the claim is not provided in clear and prominent terms on the same medium;
  • (q) “sustainability label” means any voluntary trust mark, quality mark or equivalent, either public or private, that aims to set apart and promote a product, a process or a business by reference to its environmental or social characteristics, or both, and excludes any mandatory label required under Union or national law;
  • (r) “certification scheme” means a third-party verification scheme that certifies that a product, process or business complies with certain requirements, that allows for the use of a corresponding sustainability label, and the terms of which, including its requirements, are publicly available and meet the following criteria:


 

  • (i) the scheme is open under transparent, fair, and non-discriminatory terms to all traders willing and able to comply with the scheme’s requirements;
  • (ii) the scheme’s requirements are developed by the scheme owner in consultation with relevant experts and stakeholders;
  • (iii) the scheme sets out procedures for dealing with non-compliance with the scheme’s requirements and provides for the withdrawal or suspension of the use of the sustainability label by the trader in case of non-compliance with the scheme’s requirements; and
  • (iv) the monitoring of a trader’s compliance with the scheme’s requirements is subject to an objective procedure and is carried out by a third party whose competence and independence from both the scheme owner and the trader are based on international, Union or national standards and procedures;


 

  • (s) “recognised excellent environmental performance” means environmental performance compliant with Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*2) or with national or regional EN ISO 14024 type I ecolabelling schemes officially recognised in the Member States, or top environmental performance in accordance with other applicable Union law;
  • (t) “durability” means durability as defined in Article 2, point (13), of Directive (EU) 2019/771;
  • (u) “software update” means an update that is necessary to keep goods with digital elements, digital content and digital services in conformity in accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/770 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*3) and Directive (EU) 2019/771, including a security update, or a functionality update;
  • (v) “consumable” means any component of a good that is used up recurrently and that needs to be replaced or replenished for the good to function as intended;
  • (w) “functionality” means functionality as defined in Article 2, point (9), of Directive (EU) 2019/771.

 

 

(2) Article 6 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, point (b) is replaced by the following:

 

  • ‘(b) the main characteristics of the product, such as its availability, benefits, risks, execution, composition, environmental or social characteristics, accessories, circularity aspects, such as durability, reparability or recyclability, after-sale customer assistance and complaint handling, method and date of manufacture or provision, delivery, fitness for purpose, usage, quantity, specification, geographical or commercial origin or the results to be expected from its use, or the results and material features of tests or checks carried out on the product.’;

 

(b) in paragraph 2, the following points are added:

 

  • ‘(d) making an environmental claim related to future environmental performance without clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments set out in a detailed and realistic implementation plan that includes measurable and time-bound targets and other relevant elements necessary to support its implementation, such as allocation of resources, and that is regularly verified by an independent third party expert, whose findings are made available to consumers;
  • (e) advertising benefits to consumers that are irrelevant and do not result from any feature of the product or business.’;

 

(3) in Article 7, the following paragraph is added:

 

  • ‘7. Where a trader provides a service which compares products and provides the consumer with information on environmental or social characteristics or on circularity aspects, such as durability, reparability or recyclability, of the products or suppliers of those products, information about the method of comparison, the products which are the object of comparison and the suppliers of those products, as well as the measures in place to keep that information up to date, shall be regarded as material information.’;

 

(4) Annex I is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Directive. Annex I to Directive 2005/29/EC is amended as follows:

(1) the following point is inserted:

 

  • ‘2a. Displaying a sustainability label that is not based on a certification scheme or not established by public authorities.’;

(2) the following points are inserted:
 

  • 4a. ‘Making a generic environmental claim for which the trader is not able to demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim.
  • 4b. Making an environmental claim about the entire product or the trader’s entire business when it concerns only a certain aspect of the product or a specific activity of the trader’s business.
  • 4c. Claiming, based on the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions, that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.’

(3) the following point is inserted:

  • 10a. Presenting requirements imposed by law on all products within the relevant product category on the Union market as a distinctive feature of the trader’s offer.’;

 

(4) the following points are inserted:
 

  • ‘23d. Withholding information from the consumer about the fact that a software update will negatively impact the functioning of goods with digital elements or the use of digital content or digital services.
  • 23e. Presenting a software update as necessary when it only enhances functionality features.
  • 23f. Any commercial communication in relation to a good containing a feature introduced to limit its durability despite information on the feature and its effects on the durability of the good being available to the trader.
  • 23g. Falsely claiming that under normal conditions of use a good has a certain durability in terms of usage time or intensity.
  • 23h. Presenting a good as allowing repair when it does not.
  • 23i.Inducing the consumer to replace or replenish the consumables of a good earlier than necessary for technical reasons.
  • 23j. Withholding information concerning the impairment of the functionality of a good when consumables, spare parts or accessories not supplied by the original producer are used, or falsely claiming that such impairment will happen.’.

 

2.5. The Green Claims Directive 

 

  • More formally, Proposal for a Directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims. The proposal aims to:
  • Make green claims reliable, comparable and verifiable across the EU; protect consumers from greenwashing; contribute to creating a circular and green EU economy by enabling consumers to make informed purchasing decisions; help establish a level playing field when it comes to environmental performance of products;
  • The Commission pages on the proposal are here; the draft directive itself is here. The directive is likely to be agreed in parliament by the end of 2024

 

 

..........................................................................

C. Channel Rules

1. TV/Radio/VOD

Sector

SECTION C: TV & RADIO/ AV

 

 

STANDARD RULES 

 

  • The content rules set out in our earlier section B apply, as do the general content rules set out below those, and principally from the RR Code of Ethics in Advertising linked below 
  • Principal legislation is from the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)which implements the UCP Directive 2005/29/EC and its amending Directive 2019/2161
  • The channel (i.e. placement) rules that apply to all product sectors, Food and Soft Drinks included, e.g. rules for sponsorship and for product placement, are set out under the General tab below 
  • All Food and Soft Drink advertising to children under 12 is prohibited according to Appendix 2 (Arts 1 & 2) of the Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) unless the products in question meet nutritional criteria shown in Appendix 2a
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press, and may contain only information of a scientific and factual nature

 

 

 

  • Article 16b, para. 3a: Children’s programmes shall not be accompanied by commercial communications for foods or soft drinks containing ingredients excessive intakes of which in the everyday diet are not recommended
  • The National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) monitors compliance with the requirements of article 16b para. 3a of the Broadcasting Act, which result from a statutory obligation

 

 

BROADCASTING AGREEMENT (EN / PO)

 

Television broadcasters’ agreement on the rules for the dissemination of advertising and sponsorship regarding foods or beverages containing ingredients whose presence in excessive amounts in a daily diet is not recommended (voluntary agreement; entry into force 01/01/2015)

 

  • Since 1 January 2015, programmes for children aged up to 12 years, broadcast by the eight largest television broadcasters in Poland, will not be accompanied by advertisements for 'unhealthy food'. The agreement was signed by: ITI Neovision Poland, Polsat TV, TVP, TV Puls, TVN, VIMN Poland, The Walt Disney Company (Polska) and Stavka company
  • According to the broadcasters' declaration, the criteria for exclusion is those foods and soft drinks that do not meet 'Nutritional Criteria to the self-regulation on food advertising aimed at children under 12 years' incorporated within appendix 2a of the Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN). This document was drafted by the Polish Federation of Food Industry and approved by the Ministry of Health. it's attached to the broadcasters’ agreement as appendix 9
  • This appendix also includes a list of product categories which are not specified in the nutritional criteria. These include sugar and sugar-based products such as chocolate and chocolate products, jam or marmalade, non-chocolate sweets and other sugar products, soft drinks, potato chips and potato-based snacks, as well as products made of dough
  • Signatory broadcasters require advertisers to submit a written statement on the compliance of the advertised product. Templates can be found in appendix no. 11a/b (pps 12/13) of the Polish version of the agreement
  • Useful information in English from the National Broadcasting Council website here

 

 

EU PLEDGE

 

From the Implementation Guidance Note see Pt. 3 Television and Radio and Pt. 9 Product Placement;

commitments enhanced July 2021, effective January 2022 

 

 

........................................................................
Read more

General

SECTION C: TV & RADIO/ AV

 

 

APPLICABLE REGULATIONS 

 

  • The content rules set out in section B apply to all channels except where identified; content rules specific to broadcast are below
  • Broadcasting Act (BA) of December 29, 1992 PO; GRS translation of key provisions EN; articles 16a-c, 17, 17a, 47k
  • The above was amended by the act of August 11th 2021 (PO), which transposed Directive 2018/1808 extending AVMSD rules online and introduces transparency rules for video-sharing platforms, shown under Chapter 6b of the consolidated Broadcasting Act. Commercial communications' content rules are essentially unchanged and are shown for the Directive here (EN)
  • This article Amendment to the Broadcasting Act to take effect from Traple Konarski Podrecki & Partners/ Lexology is helpful on the amends referenced above, most of which were in force November 1, 2021
  • Regulation of the National Broadcasting Council of 30 June 2011 (PO) on conditions of product placement; per art. 17a (9) BA
  • Regulation of the National Broadcasting Council of 6 July 2000 (PO) on sponsoring programme items and other broadcasts; amended by Regulation of the National Broadcasting Council of 27 July 2011, per art. 17 (8) BA
  • Regulation of the National Broadcasting Council of 30 June 2011 (PO) on principles of advertising and teleshopping in radio and television programme services; per article 16 (7) BA

 

 

KEY CLAUSES

 

  • Commercial communications must be readily recognisable (Art. 16.1). Also applicable to VOD, as per art. 47 BA
  • It is prohibited to broadcast commercial communications that (Art. 16b (2) BA):

 

  1. Directly exhort minors to purchase products or services
  2. Encourage minors to exert pressure upon their parents or other persons to persuade them to purchase the products or services being advertised
  3. Exploit the trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons
  4. Unreasonably show minors in dangerous situations
  5. Are of a subliminal nature

 

  • Commercial communications must not (Art. 16b (3) BA):

 

  1. Offend against/ violate human dignity
  2. Include any discrimination on grounds of race, sex, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation
  3. Be offensive to religious or political beliefs
  4. Prejudice/ jeopardise the physical, mental or moral development of minors
  5. Encourage behaviour prejudicial to health, safety or environmental protection

 

  • Article 16b (3a) Children’s programmes shall not be accompanied by commercial communications for foods or beverages containing ingredients excessive intakes of which in the everyday diet are not recommended

 

 

 Product placement 

 

Radio and Television art. 17a Broadcasting Act; all applicable to VOD except Article 17a (4) BA

 

  • Product placement is only permitted (Art. 17a (1) BA):
     
  • In cinematographic works (feature films), films or series made for audiovisual media services (TV and radio), sports programmes and light entertainment programmes, or
  • Where there is no payment but only the provision of certain goods or services free of charge, such as production props and prizes, with a view to their inclusion in a programme, with the exception of children’s programmes
     
  • Product placement must not prejudice the autonomy and editorial independence of the broadcaster through its impact on contents or scheduling and must not release the broadcaster of the liability for contents of the programme (Art. 17a (4) BA)
  • Programmes that contain product placement must not (Art. 17a (5) BA):
     
  • Give undue prominence to the product in question
  • Directly encourage the purchase or rental of goods or services, in particular by making promotional references to those goods or services

 

 

Sponsorship 

 

 TV and Radio: Art. 17 Broadcasting Act (BA); National Broadcasting Council Regulations concerning sponsorship of programmes and other broadcasts; all provisions applicable to VOD, except Article 17 (paras 3 and 6) BA
 

  • Viewers/ listeners must be clearly informed about sponsoring. Sponsored programmes or other broadcasts must be identified as such by sponsor credits at the start and the end of the programme, and when a programme resumes after an advertising or teleshopping break. Such credits may specify only the sponsor’s name, business name, trademark or contain some other identification of the business operator or its business activities, a reference to its products, services or their trademark (Art. 17 (1) BA)
  • The identification of the sponsor or any component part thereof must not directly encourage the purchase or rental of goods or services, in particular by making special promotional references to those goods or services (Art. 17 (1a) BA)
  • Sponsor credits may not contain the name, business name, trademark or other individual identification of the business operator or its business operations, the image of a product or service, the advertising of which is prohibited by virtue of Article 16b Para. 1 (Art. 17 (2) BA)
  • The sponsor must not influence the content of the programme or any other broadcast and their scheduling in a manner that would prejudice the autonomy and editorial independence of the broadcaster. Sponsorship must not release the broadcaster from liability for the content of the programme (Art. 17 (3) BA)
  • Sponsored programmes or other broadcasts may not encourage the purchase or other use of the products or services of the sponsor or a third party (Art. 17 (4) BA)
  • Subject to para. 6, programmes or other broadcasts may not be sponsored by (Art. 17(5) BA):
     
  1. Political parties
  2. Trade unions
  3. Employers’ organisations
  4. Natural or legal persons whose principal operations consist in the production or sale of products or the provision of services referred to in Article 16b para. 1

 

 

SELF-REGULATION

 

 

Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising EN includes Chapter VI on Sponsorship, incorporating reference to TV and Radio broadcasting:
 

  • Sponsorship-related activities must not be misleading as to the sponsored entity, brand or other identification markings/ designations of the sponsored entity/ party/ event, in particular when the sponsored event is presented on TV or Radio (Art. 43)

 

 

 

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International

SECTION C TV/AV AND RADIO

 

 

EASA Jan 2024 update on the AVMSD

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION AND LEGISLATION

 

  • These rules are ‘general’ cross-border regulations, i.e. channel rules that apply to product sectors that do not attract particular restrictions in, for example, youth programming; rules for channel-sensitive product sectors such as alcohol or gambling can be found under their respective headings on the main website
  • For content rules in all channels, refer to the earlier content section B. The principal source of general international content rules is the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN 2024), which applies to all channels. Where there are content rules specific to the channels in this section, we show them below
  • Chapter B of the ICC Code linked above covers media sponsorship (Art. B12). The rules do not include product placement
  • The Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive 2010/13/EU is the key legislation; this was significantly amended by Directive 2018/1808, whose 'headline' was new rules for Video Sharing platforms (VSPS), but which made some other fairly significant amends to the AV framework, albeit none that had a notable impact on the content of commercial communications. The Directive's new/ adjusted rules in that context are assembled here and there's a helpful June 2021 commentary from Simmons & Simmons/ Lexology here and their June 2022 version is here. Some provisions are shown below

 

SPONSORSHIP (from the ICC Code)
2024 amends shown in italics

 

Article B12: Media sponsorship

 

  • The content and scheduling of sponsored media properties should not be unduly influenced by the sponsor so as to compromise the responsibility, autonomy or editorial independence of the broadcaster, programme producer or media owner, except to the extent that the sponsor is permitted by relevant legislation unless the sponsor is legally allowed to be the programme producer or co-producer, media owner or financier funder;
  • Sponsored media properties should be identified as such by presentation of the sponsor’s name and/or logo at the beginning, during and/or at the end of the programme or publication content. This also applies to online and in social media, including any influencer involvement material;
  • Particular care should be taken to ensure that there is no confusion between sponsorship of an event or activity and the media sponsorship of that event, especially where different sponsors are involved.

LEGISLATION KEY CLAUSES 

 

Note: The AVMS Directive is the source of rules for e.g. programme sponsorship and product placement. Observation of those rules is largely the responsibility of the media owners, so we don’t set them out below. They are available from the linked AVMS Directive (consolidated version following 2018/1808 amends, shown in italics below) and under our General sector. Clauses below are those most relevant to advertising content

 

Article 9

 

1. Member States shall ensure that audiovisual commercial communications provided by media service providers under their jurisdiction comply with the following requirements:

 

  1. Audiovisual commercial communications shall be readily recognisable as such. Surreptitious audiovisual commercial communication shall be prohibited
  2. Audiovisual commercial communications shall not use subliminal techniques
  3. Audiovisual commercial communications shall not:

 

  1. Prejudice respect for human dignity
  2. Include or promote any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation
  3. Encourage behaviour prejudicial to health or safety
  4. Encourage behaviour grossly prejudicial to the protection of the environment

 

  1. All forms of audiovisual commercial communications for cigarettes and other tobacco products, as well as for electronic cigarettes and refill containers shall be prohibited;
    shall be prohibited
  2. Audiovisual commercial communications for alcoholic beverages shall not be aimed specifically at minors and shall not encourage immoderate consumption of such beverages
  3. Audiovisual commercial communication for medicinal products and medical treatment available only on prescription in the Member State within whose jurisdiction the media service provider falls shall be prohibited
  4. Audiovisual commercial communications shall not cause physical or moral detriment to minors. Therefore they shall not directly exhort minors to buy or hire a product or service by exploiting their inexperience or credulity, directly encourage them to persuade their parents or others to purchase the goods or services being advertised, exploit the special trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons, or unreasonably show minors in dangerous situations

 

2. Member States and the Commission shall encourage media service providers to develop codes of conduct regarding inappropriate audiovisual commercial communications, accompanying or included in children’s programmes, of foods and beverages containing nutrients and substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, in particular those such as fat, trans-fatty acids, salt/sodium and sugars, excessive intakes of which in the overall diet are not recommended. See 4. below

 

2.  Audiovisual commercial communications for alcoholic beverages in on-demand audiovisual media services, with the exception of sponsorship and product placement, shall comply with the criteria set out in Article 22.
3.  Member States shall encourage the use of co-regulation and the fostering of self-regulation through codes of conduct as provided for in Article 4a (1) regarding inappropriate audiovisual commercial communications for alcoholic beverages. Those codes shall aim to effectively reduce the exposure of minors to audiovisual commercial communications for alcoholic beverages.

4.  Member States shall encourage the use of co-regulation and the fostering of self-regulation through codes of conduct as provided for in Article 4a (1) regarding inappropriate audiovisual commercial communications, accompanying or included in children's programmes, for foods and beverages containing nutrients and substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, in particular fat, trans-fatty acids, salt or sodium and sugars, of which excessive intakes in the overall diet are not recommended.
Those codes shall aim to effectively reduce the exposure of children to audiovisual commercial communications for such foods and beverages. They shall aim to provide that such audiovisual commercial communications do not emphasise the positive quality of the nutritional aspects of such foods and beverages.
5.  Member States and the Commission may foster self-regulation, for the purposes of this Article, through Union codes of conduct as referred to in Article 4a (2).

 

Article 4a is found here 

 

 

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2. Cinema/Press/Outdoor

Sector

SECTION C: CINEMA, PRINT, OUTDOOR

 

  • The General channel (i.e. placement) rules for all the channels shown here, i.e. those rules that apply to all product categories Food and Soft drinks included, are shown below under the General tab

 

CINEMA

 

  • The content rules for Food and Soft Drinks in section B above, and the general rules for all sectors that are found below the sector rules, apply to the cinema channel, except those rules that are specific to broadcast 
  • Principal source of rules is those from the RR Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) and in legislation the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)which implements the UCP Directive 2005/29/EC 
  • All Food and Soft Drinks advertising to children under 12 is prohibited according to appendix 2 of the Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) unless the products in question meet nutritional criteria shown in appendix 2a 
  • Food and Soft Drink products that do not qualify would therefore need to avoid child-oriented films, defined according to article 2, annex 2 of the Code of Ethics: 'Every advertisement is considered aimed at children if in planned targeted media the audience share of children under 12 is minimum 35 percent.'
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press

 

EU PLEDGE

 

EU Pledge Implementation Guidance pt. 6 for Cinema and movies on DVD/ CD-ROM;

commitments enhanced July 2021, effective January 2022 

 

PRINT
Press, magazines, promotional literature, e.g. leaflets, brochures, etc.

 

  • No rules from authorities for the Food and Soft Drinks category that apply specifically to print advertising; rules set out in content section B apply in press and magazines, as do the general rules, except those specific to broadcast 
  • Principal source of rules is those from the RR Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) and in legislation the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press, and may contain only information of a scientific and factual nature
  • All Food and Soft Drinks advertising to children under 12 is prohibited according to appendix 2 of the Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) unless the products in question meet nutritional criteria shown in appendix 2a 
  • Food and Soft Drink products that do not qualify would therefore need to avoid child-oriented titles, defined according to article 2, annex 2 of the Code of Ethics: 'Every advertisement is considered aimed at children if in planned targeted media the audience share of children under 12 is minimum 35 percent.'

 

EU PLEDGE

 

EU Pledge Implementation Guidance pt. 4 for Print (and third party Internet);

commitments enhanced July 2021, effective January 2022 

 

OUTDOOR

 

  • No rules from authorities for the Food and Soft Drinks category that apply specifically to outdoor advertising; content rules in section B apply, as do the general content rules, except those rules specific to broadcast media. See cinema and print headers above for principal rules
  • All Food and Soft Drinks advertising to children under 12 is prohibited according to appendix 2 of the Code of Ethics in Advertising unless the products in question meet nutritional criteria shown in appendix 2a 
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press

 

 

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General

SECTION C: CINEMA, PRINT, OUTDOOR

 

 

All of the content rules set out in our earlier section B apply in these channels, except those specific to broadcast media; the principal code is the Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising and the key legislation is the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)

 

PRINT

 

  • Code of Good Practice of Press Publishers PO / EN from the Polish Chamber of Press Publishers Izba Wydawców Prasy (IWP)

 

General guidelines

 

  • In advertising or promoting campaigns, the publisher shall ensure that the name, face or voice of a journalist is not used to advertise for a product or service (4.1.5)
  • Hidden advertisements, including product placement, shall be forbidden (4.1.10)

 

Forms of publication

vis. native/ advertorials

 

  • The boundary between advertising material and editorial content shall not be blurred. The form of advertising materials and publications must be such as to make their nature of advertisement or announcement obvious to the reader. Advertising materials and announcements must be clearly set apart from editorial content by graphic elements or a different typeset and labelled as ‘advertisement’ (reklama), ‘promotion’ (promocja), ‘announcement’ (ogłoszenie), ‘sponsored text’ (tekst sponsorowany) or the like, making the nature and origin of such materials obvious to the reader. In particular, any advertisements and announcements that are intended to imitate or use editorial content or the publication’s graphic layout must be rejected (Rule 4.2.2)
  • Neither the name nor the logo of an advertiser or announcer may be used on any of the pages devoted to editorial content unless they are labelled as an advertisement (reklama) or announcement (ogłoszeniem). An advertiser or announcer whose logo has been placed on a page with editorial content may not have any influence on editorial content.
  • Moreover, an advertiser or announcer’s name or logo may be placed on a page with editorial content in connection with the preparation of events under the publication’s patronage or the financing of prizes in a competition organised by an editorial office or a publisher; the advertiser or announcer must be identified as the sponsor (Rule 4.2.3)
  • An advertisement, announcement or promotion may be announced on the front page or in the table of contents of a given issue provided that it is labelled as advertisement, announcement or promotion or that it is the editorial office’s or publisher’s self-promotion (Rule 4.2.3)
 
Advertising supplements

 

  • Advertising or promotional supplements attached to a press title under contract from advertisers, including inserts, should clearly differ from editorial content and regular or occasional feature supplements by their shape, graphic layout or typeface, so that the readers may not confuse the pages with editorial content with those of such supplements. Moreover, the title or logo of the publication may not appear in such supplements. The above restrictions shall not apply to the editorial office’s or the publisher’s own promotion measures; the provisions of Rule 4.3.2., last sentence, shall apply mutatis mutandis in such cases. (Rule 4.3.1)
  • To ensure clear and unambiguous identification of the advertising supplements referred to in Rule 4.3.1., they should bear a printed caption saying ‘advertisement’, ‘promotional supplement’ or ‘advertising supplement’, or be otherwise marked in a way adopted by the publisher and allowing for clear and unambiguous identification of such supplements. The above shall not apply to inserts whose shape and content clearly indicate their character and origin (e.g., supermarket offers). In the in-house feature supplements (both regular and occasional), any advertisements, announcements, sponsoring or promotions should be clearly marked in accordance with the provisions of Rule 4.2.2. (Rule 4.3.2)

 

Competitions

 

  • Whenever prizes in any competitions, lotteries or promotional gift distributions organised by the editorial office or the publisher are provided by an advertiser, an announcer or external persons, those competitions, lotteries or promotions being advertised on pages devoted to editorial content, editorial texts may not suggest that the editorial office endorses or recommends in whatever way the products or services of such advertisers, announcers or other persons (Rule 4.4.1)
  • The course of a competition organised by an editorial office or a publisher should remain under the organiser’s exclusive control; an advertiser, announcer or sponsor may not have the decisive influence upon the selection of the winner. In presenting the competition, the editorial office must take care not to imply that it favours the products or services provided by the advertisers, announcers or sponsors as prizes (Rule 4.4.2)
 

CINEMA

 

  • The Content rules set out in our earlier section B apply to marketing communications in Cinema, except those specific to broadcast

 

Associations 

 

SAWA is the Global Cinema Advertising Association, the global trade body of Cinema Advertising Companies and Associated Companies that supply services to the Cinema Advertising Industry.  Multikino (owned by Vue Entertainment Ltd) is the SAWA member in Poland; Multikino Media will handle cinema advertising sales nationwide.

Cinema City is the largest cinema operator in Poland (40% of multiplex market) followed by Multikino and Helios Cinemas; New Age Media, a subsidiary of Cinema City, provide and implement advertising campaigns of all Cinema City multiplexes

 

 

OUTDOOR

 

  • The Content rules set out in our earlier Section B apply to outdoor marketing communications, except those specific to broadcast
  • The international association for OOH advertising is the World Out Of Home Organisation (WOO); membership list here

 

 

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International

SECTION C: CINEMA, PRINT, OUTDOOR

 

 

Applicable self-regulation and legislation 

 

  • These rules are ‘general’ cross-border regulations, i.e. channel rules that apply to product sectors that do not attract particular restrictions in, for example, youth publications or films for children; rules for channel-sensitive product sectors such as alcohol or gambling can be found under their respective headings on the main website
  • For content rules in all channels, refer to the earlier content section B. The principal source of general international content rules is the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN 2024), which applies to all channels. Where there are content rules specific to the channels in this section, we show them below, 2024 amends in italics. In the context of ‘Native’ advertising in particular, articles 7 and 8 of the ICC Code shown below are relevant
  • The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC; re native advertising in particular in print, and all provisions related to misleadingness etc. apply in all media; some clauses below
  • In terms of channel rules, Chapter B (Sponsorship) of the ICC Code will apply; article B12 (shown below with 2024 amends)

 

Refer to Content Section B for provisions; of particular relevance below:

 

Identification and transparency (Art. 7)

 

  • Marketing communications should be clearly distinguishable as such, whatever their form and whatever the medium used. When an advertisement, including so-called “native advertising”, appears in a medium containing news or editorial matter, it should be so presented that it is readily recognisable as an advertisement and where appropriate, labelled as such. The true commercial purpose of marketing communications should be transparent and not misrepresent their true commercial purpose. Hence, a communication promoting the sale of a product should not be disguised as, for example, market research, consumer surveys, user-generated content, private blogs, private postings on social media or independent reviews.
  • Marketing communications, regardless of format or medium, should be easily identifiable, allowing consumers to clearly distinguish between commercial and non-commercial content
  • Identification disclosures should be prominent, clear, easily legible and appear in close proximity to the commercial message where they are unlikely to be overlooked by consumers
  • Marketing communications should be transparent about their true commercial purpose, and not misrepresent it. Hence, a communication promoting the sale of goods, or the contracting of a service should not be disguised, for example as news, editorial matter, market research, consumer surveys, consumer reviews, user-generated content, private blogs, private postings on social media or independent reviews etc.
  • In the case of mixed content, such as with news or editorial matter or social media, the marketing communication element should be made clearly distinguishable as such, and its commercial nature should be transparent. It should be so presented that it is readily and immediately recognisable as a marketing communication and where appropriate, labelled as such.

 

Identity of the marketer (Art. 8)

 

  • The identity of the marketer should be transparent. Marketing communications should, where appropriate, include contact information to enable the consumer to get in touch with the marketer without difficulty. The above does not apply to communications with the sole purpose of attracting attention to communication activities to follow (e.g. so-called 'teaser advertisements').

 

Legislation key clauses 

 

Annex I of the UCPD 

 

11. Using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer (advertorial). This is without prejudice to Council Directive 89/552/EEC (1)

22. Falsely claiming or creating the impression that the trader is not acting for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession, or falsely representing oneself as a consumer

 

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Article B12 ICC Code Media sponsorship

 

  • The content and scheduling of sponsored media properties should not be unduly influenced by the sponsor so as to compromise the responsibility, autonomy or editorial independence of the broadcaster, programme producer or media owner, except to the extent that the sponsor is permitted by relevant legislation unless the sponsor is legally allowed to be the programme producer or co-producer, media owner or financier funder;
  • Sponsored media properties should be identified as such by presentation of the sponsor’s name and/or logo at the beginning, during and/or at the end of the programme or publication content. This also applies to online and in social media, including any influencer involvement material;
  • Particular care should be taken to ensure that there is no confusion between sponsorship of an event or activity and the media sponsorship of that event, especially where different sponsors are involved.

 

 

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3. Online Commercial Communications

Sector

SECTION C: ONLINE COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS

 

 

CONTEXT

 

This section sets out the broad rules for the online environment generally. Below this, more specific channels are covered such as email, marketers’ own websites, and OBA. As the boundaries online can be less clear, and as space online is often advertiser-owned, there’s greater focus on the identification of advertising, as advertising is in remit (i.e. subject to the rules) in owned and earned space as well as paid

 

STANDARD RULES

 

  • The content rules for Food and Soft Drinks in section B above, and the general rules for all sectors that are found below the sector rules, apply online, except those rules that are specific to broadcast 
  • The principal source of self-regulatory rules is the Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN); see appendix 2 in particular. In legislation, the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)
  • The ban on advertising Food and Soft Drink products to children under 12, unless those products meet nutritional criteria, applies in the digital space
  • The general channel rules, i.e. those that apply to all product categories Food and Soft Drinks included, are shown below under the General tab. These include, for example, statutory consent and information requirements, applicable especially in digital channels 
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press

 

EU PLEDGE

  • The EU Pledge states: No advertising of food and soft drink products to children under 12, except for products which fulfil specific nutrition criteria; commitments enhanced July 2021, effective January 2022
  • Implementation Guidance from the EU Pledge on (print and) third party Internet advertising under pt. 4, Influencer marketing pt. 10

 

 

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General

SECTION C: ONLINE COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS

 

 

Polish DPA bans Meta from processing personal data
​of two public figures for displaying deepfake ads

Traple Konarski Podrecki & Partners October 9, 2024

 

CONTEXT

 

This section provides the broad regulatory picture for the commercial digital environment. More specific channel rules such as email, OBA etc. follow. Advertising online is subject to the rules in owned and (some) earned space as well as paid, which makes the definition of advertising Definition The Rada Reklamy definition is ‘aims to increase the sale of products, to obtain another form of using the products, or to obtain another effect desired by the advertiser. Advertising shall also include sales promotion, offers intended to the recipients in the form of direct marketing, or sponsorship.' important, especially as there is so much content in a ‘blurred’ online environment .

In this channel context, the influence of legislation is significant, particularly in the use of personal data, so relevant articles from law are referenced. The impact of GDPR is shown under individual channel sections; in broad, when processing personal data related to e.g. databases for marketing purposes, rules from the GDPR now apply in all member states. Privacy issues should be reviewed with specialist advisors

 

  • Per intro above, online advertising is subject to the rules set out in content section B, except those specific to broadcasting. if it’s advertising, it’s in remit. The key set of rules is from the Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising. Exemptions are under Article 3. Key in legislation is The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO/EN (2022 amends)

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION 

 

UOKIK Recommendations Influencer Advertising (EN) announced 26/9/22

Above is link to UOKIK news story, full recommendations here (EN) and GALA/ Lex commentary here 

 

  • As above, the Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising applies to advertising as defined under article 3 and incorporates Chapter VII Direct Marketing 
  • Code of Ethics Polish Direct Marketing Association (SMB) PO / EN Chapter VI E-Commerce; Section 37 Commercial Communication
  • Code of Good Practice in Mobile Advertising PO / EN from mobile operators Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Polkomtel, Orange and P4 in conjunction with IAB Poland

 

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION 

 

Forthcoming changes regarding online advertising
Traple Konarski Podrecki & Partners/ Lex June 7, 2023

 

  • If processing personal data, lawful processing rules from the GDPR may apply. Privacy issues should be reviewed with specialist advisors
  • The Act on the Provision of Services by Electronic Means (PSEM) PO / EN (Arts. 9.1/ 9.2) implements elements of the e-Commerce 2000/31/EC and e-Privacy 2002/58/EC directives
  • The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends) applies to B2C commercial practices. Includes e.g. misleadingness rules and 'Invitation to purchase' requirements as well as an 'intrusion' clause under article 9/3. Transposes UCPD 2005/29/EC
  • The Unfair Competition Act UCA PO / EN; note on translation here, applies in B2B and in this context mainly relates to comparative advertising. Transposes the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive MACAD 2006/114/EC
  • The Broadcasting act was amended by the act of August 11th 2021 (PO) that transposed Directive 2018/1808; the Directive extends AVMSD rules online and in particular to video-sharing platforms: platforms must identify to users commercial communications in posts where known, and require the same of contributors. Content rules are essentially unchanged and shown for the Directive here
  • The DSA: Consequences of the use of digital advertising from Dentons/ Lex August 30, 2022 covers the significant implications of this EU legislation (the Digital Services Act) on the advertising industry; in force 1 January 2024

 

KEY CLAUSES SELF-REGULATION 
(some translation enhanced)

 

  • The content rules from the RR Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) are set out in our earlier section B and apply to advertising online. The code includes some channel rules under e.g. Chapter VII Direct Marketing and Chapter VI Sponsorship. Clauses are shown under the relevant specific headers that follow 

 

Sect. 38 SMB Code of Ethics: Commercial communication (Chapter VI e-Commerce)

 

  • All commercial communications should be easily recognisable as such. The person initiating such communication, whether a natural or legal person, should be easily identifiable. This rule also applies without exception to unsolicited commercial communications which are carried out by electronic mail (s. 38 (1) SMB Code)
  • All promotional offers and contests will be easily recognisable as such. The terms and conditions of participation shall be described in a clear, unambiguous and precise manner (s. 38 (2) SMB Code)
  • Internet technology should not be used to mislead customers as to the nature of a product or service in a promotion or offer. In addition, traders should not deceitfully restrict/ hamper the customer’s ability to leave the website and should make every effort to ensure that the search criteria accurately reflect the content of the site (s. 38 (3) SMB Code)
  • Comparisons of prices shall not mislead the customer. All the comparisons referring to special offers should indicate the start and end dates of such offers and any other special terms and conditions (s. 38 (3) SMB Code)

 

KEY CLAUSES LEGISLATION

 

Labelling requirement and Information obligations from the Act on the Provision of Services by Electronic Means:

 

  • Commercial communications must be clearly identified and marked in such a way that there is no doubt that it is a commercial communication (Art. 9.1 PSEM)
  • Commercial communications must include (Art. 9.2 (1-3) PSEM):
     
    • The name of the entity, on behalf of whom the communication is made, and its email addresses
    • Clear description of the form of promotional activities, in particular: price reductions (discounts), free benefits in cash or in kind and other benefits related to the promoted goods, service or image, as well as the clear identification of the conditions necessary to take advantage of these benefits, if they are a component of the offer
    • Any other information, which may have an impact on the extent of the responsibility of the parties, in particular warnings and restrictions

 

The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices UCPA

 

  • The following practice may be regarded as a misleading omission: failing to disclose the commercial purpose of the practice if this is not clearly apparent from the circumstances and if this causes or may cause the average consumer to take a contractual decision which he/ she otherwise would not have taken (s. 6.3 (2) UCPA)
  • When assessing whether a commercial practice is misleading by omission all its features and circumstances related to the product launch, including its overall presentation, should be taken into account (Art. 6.5 UCPA)
  • As electronic communications will frequently include offers, information requirements from the UCPA when making an ‘Invitation to purchase' are extracted here
  • All marketing communications/ advertising content in electronic communications is subject to the UCPA rules on unfair commercial practices, especially in this context misleading or unfair actions or omissions shown under articles 5, 6 and 7 of the Act linked again here (EN key clauses)
  • The Unfair Competition Act (EN) is most relevant in this context to rules on comparative advertising; see article 16 of the UCA

 

SOME EDPB GUIDANCE

 

 

 

 

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International

SECTION C: ONLINE COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS

 

 

Repository of European IAB’s Initiatives for Responsible Digital Advertising
IAB 30 September 2024. Topics Privacy, DSA, Influencer marketing, Qualid, Child Safety, 

Commission's call for evidence on DSA minors protection guidelines; closed 30th Sept 2024

EASA on the above and two calls for tender August 8, 2024

Meta and self-regulation December 2023 

 

CONTEXT

 

This particular section provides the broad regulatory picture for the commercial digital environment. More specific channel rules such as those for email, OBA, Social Networks etc., follow. As the boundaries online can be less clear, and as a considerable amount of space online is advertiser-owned, there’s greater focus on the identification of advertising, as advertising is in remit (i.e. subject to the rules) online in owned and (some) earned space as well as paid

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION, LEGISLATION AND GUIDANCE 

 

 

Legislation

 

Online Deals Do's And Don'ts For Online Business Under EU Law

Logan & partners/ Mondaq November 28, 2023

 

  • Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic communications
  • Directive 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce

  • Regulation 2016/679/EU on the processing of personal data (GDPR) 

  • Directive 2018/1808 amending AVMS Directive 2010/13/EU 

  •  

THE DSA AND DMA 

 

Two relatively recent arrivals in EU digital platform regulation are the Digital Markets Act (implemented May 2023), aka Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 and its implementing provisions; Commission explanatory pages here and the Digital Services Act, pages here (implemented Feb 2024 for all platforms) aka Regulation 2022 (EU) 2022/2065. The first, as the name implies, is the EU's means of reining in the major digital 'gatekeepers' to ensure 'fairer and more contestable' markets. Somewhat obviously, the rules are aimed at platforms rather than advertisers and agencies, though there are implications for behaviourally targeted advertising. The DSA's main goal 'is to prevent illegal and harmful activities online and the spread of disinformation.' Loosely, this is the EU's Online Safety Act.

 

Self-regulatory clauses 

 

Chapter C ICC Code; Direct Marketing and Digital Marketing Communications (extracts) 

2024 amends in italics; there are some 20 articles in this section of the code  

 

C2. Identification and transparency

 

  • Marketing communications should be properly identified, as such in accordance with Article 7 of the General Provisions subject descriptors should be accurate and the commercial nature of the communications, as well as the identity of the marketer, should be transparent to the consumers in accordance with Articles 7-8 of the General Provisions
  • Where a marketer has created or offered consideration for a product endorsement or review, the commercial nature should be transparent. In such cases, the endorsement or review should not state or imply that it is from or conferred by an individual consumer or independent body
  • Marketers should take appropriate steps to ensure that the commercial nature of the content of a social network site or profile under the control or influence of a marketer is clearly indicated and that the rules and standards of acceptable commercial behaviour in these networks are respected
  • Any image, sound or text which, by its size, volume or any other visual characteristic, is likely to materially reduce or obscure the legibility and clarity of the offer should be avoided

 

Article C3 – Presentation of the offer
 

The terms of offers should be presented in a transparent and understandable manner in accordance with Article 11 (Presentation of the Offer) of the General Provisions

 

C2. Identity of the marketer

 

  • The identity of the marketer and/ or operator and details of where and how they may be contacted should be given in the offer, so as to enable the consumer to communicate directly and effectively with them. This information should be where technically feasible available in a way which the consumer could access and keep, i.e. via a separate document offline, an online or downloadable document, email or SMS or log-in account; it should not, for example, appear only on an order form which the consumer is required to return.
  • At the time of delivery of the product, the marketer’s full name, address, e-mail and phone number should be supplied to the consumer
 

 

Legislative clauses

 

Directive 2002/58/EC; Article 13

Unsolicited communications

 

  1. The use of automated calling systems without human intervention (automatic calling machines), facsimile machines (fax) or electronic mail for the purposes of direct marketing may only be allowed in respect of subscribers who have given their prior consent
  2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where a natural or legal person obtains from its customers their electronic contact details for electronic mail, in the context of the sale of a product or a service, in accordance with Directive 95/46/EC*, the same natural or legal person may use these electronic contact details for direct marketing of its own similar products or services provided that customers clearly and distinctly are given the opportunity to object, free of charge and in an easy manner, to such use of electronic contact details when they are collected and on the occasion of each message in case the customer has not initially refused such use
  3. Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that, free of charge, unsolicited communications for purposes of direct marketing, in cases other than those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, are not allowed either without the consent of the subscribers concerned or in respect of subscribers who do not wish to receive these communications, the choice between these options to be determined by national legislation
  4. In any event, the practice of sending electronic mail for purposes of direct marketing disguising or concealing the identity of the sender on whose behalf the communication is made, or without a valid address to which the recipient may send a request that such communications cease, shall be prohibited
  5. Paragraphs 1 and 3 shall apply to subscribers who are natural persons. Member States shall also ensure, in the framework of Community law and applicable national legislation, that the legitimate interests of subscribers other than natural persons with regard to unsolicited communications are sufficiently protected

* Now repealed; GDPR applies 

 

 

Directive 2000/31/EC: article 5

 

General information to be provided

 

  1. In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall ensure that the service provider shall render easily, directly and permanently accessible to the recipients of the service and competent authorities, at least the following information:
     

(a) The name of the service provider

(b) The geographic address at which the service provider is established

(c) The details of the service provider, including his electronic mail address, which allow him to be contacted rapidly and communicated with in a direct and effective manner

(d) Where the service provider is registered in a trade or similar public register, the trade register in which the service provider is entered and his registration number, or equivalent means of identification in that register

(e) Where the activity is subject to an authorisation scheme, the particulars of the relevant supervisory authority

(f) As concerns the regulated professions:
 

- any professional body or similar institution with which the service provider is registered

- the professional title and the Member State where it has been granted

- a reference to the applicable professional rules in the Member State of establishment and the means to access them
 

(g) Where the service provider undertakes an activity that is subject to VAT, the identification number referred to in Article 22(1) of the sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes - Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment(29)
 

  1. In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall at least ensure that, where information society services refer to prices, these are to be indicated clearly and unambiguously and, in particular, must indicate whether they are inclusive of tax and delivery costs

 

 

Section 2: Commercial communications

 

Article 6

 

Information to be provided: In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall ensure that commercial communications which are part of, or constitute, an information society service comply at least with the following conditions:

 

  1. The commercial communication shall be clearly identifiable as such
  2. The natural or legal person on whose behalf the commercial communication is made shall be clearly identifiable
  3. Promotional offers, such as discounts, premiums and gifts, where permitted in the Member State where the service provider is established, shall be clearly identifiable as such, and the conditions which are to be met to qualify for them shall be easily accessible and be presented clearly and unambiguously
  4. Promotional competitions or games, where permitted in the Member State where the service provider is established, shall be clearly identifiable as such, and the conditions for participation shall be easily accessible and be presented clearly and unambiguously

 

Article 7

Unsolicited commercial communication

 

  1. In addition to other requirements established by Community law, Member States which permit unsolicited commercial communication by electronic mail shall ensure that such commercial communication by a service provider established in their territory shall be identifiable clearly and unambiguously as such as soon as it is received by the recipient
  2. Without prejudice to Directive 97/7/EC and Directive 97/66/EC, Member States shall take measures to ensure that service providers undertaking unsolicited commercial communications by electronic mail consult regularly and respect the opt-out registers in which natural persons not wishing to receive such commercial communications can register themselves

 

Directive 2018/1808 amending the AVMS Directive 

 

  • Extends rules across online platforms (provided that the service qualifies as an audiovisual media service or video sharing platform); the key amends to the Directive's content rules are assembled here

  • For video sharing platforms, articles 28a and 28b in the Directive linked above apply. We recommend perusal. From a commercial communications perspective, the key new ingredients are that article 9 of the AVMSD applies (found here) and that video-sharing platform providers 'clearly inform users where programmes and user-generated videos contain audiovisual commercial communications' - where they are aware of those - and provide a facility for those uploading also to declare the presence of commercial communications  

 

Guidance

 

European Data Protection Board / Article 29 Working Party

 

  • Working Document 02/2013 providing guidance on obtaining consent for cookies here
  • Opinion 15/2011 on the definition of consent here
  • May 2020 Guidelines on Consent under Regulation 2016/679 here

 

 

EASA Digital Marketing Communications Best Practice Recommendation. This document:

 

  • Recognises the global nature of digital media and the need to develop a coordinated response across EASA’s membership
  • Provides clear guidance to EASA’s SRO members on how to determine whether content under review is a marketing communication in the digital space
  • Encourages local SROs and advertising industry representatives to ensure that the self-regulatory remit at national level is aligned with the recommendations set out in this document
  • Identifies a non-exhaustive list of digital marketing communications practices which are recommended to be in the SRO’s remit
  • Identifies forms of digital content which lie outside of SRO’s remit under all circumstances

 

 

 

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4. Cookies & OBA

Sector

SECTION C: COOKIES AND OBA

 

 

COOKIES

 

  • There are no authority rules specific to the Food and Soft Drinks category on the placement and use of Cookies; the prohibition of sector advertising to U12s, and the general (see general rules tab below) requirement to obtain parental/ guardian permission when dealing with children’s personal data, obviously make this sensitive territory
  • See the General cookies rules below; these apply to all sectors, Food and Soft Drinks included, and set out some important privacy/ data processing rules 

 

OBA

 

  • OBA, like any other advertising, will be subject to the Food and Soft Drinks rules set out in our earlier content section B, as well as the general content rules for all sectors that are found below the sector rules, except those rules that are specific to broadcast
  • The principal source of self-regulatory rules is the Code of Ethics in Advertising; see appendix 2 in particular. In legislation, the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)
  • Food and Soft Drink advertising to children under 12 is prohibited unless the products concerned meet nutritional criteria; children’s behavioural segments are anyway prohibited under the general OBA self-regulatory programme (see below under the General tab)
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press

 

 

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General

SECTION C: COOKIES AND OBA

 

 

Q&A: protecting privacy and confidentiality in Poland
SKP Ślusarek Kubiak Pieczyk June 10, 2024

The EU "Cookie Pledge" Preiskel & Co/ Mondaq 12 June 2023. Pledge here 

Meta’s Ad Practices Ruled Illegal Under E.U. Law. Jan 2023 NYT

 

Since the arrival of GDPR, we no longer set out the cookie rules for all countries/ sectors. Links to applicable legislation and self-regulation are shown below
 
APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION COOKIES 

 

  • Code of Ethics Polish Direct Marketing Association (SMB) PO / EN (Chapter VI: e-Commerce; s. 37.4). Section 37 Online transaction security. Point 4: Traders should provide customers with information which does not contain any complicated technical jargon, referring to all the technologies of collecting and searching data, not allowing the identification of specific individuals, e.g. use of cookies. Traders using technology of cookie type will notify the customers about the purpose of its use

 

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND AUTHORITIES

 

 

OBA

 

European Union: Targeted advertising on social networks: Is consent mandatory? (EN)
Haas Avocats 19 September 2023

CJEU Landmark Data Protection Ruling for Online and Behavioural Advertising

William Fry/ Lex September 8, 2023. Connects with Meta news below 

Privacy rules for targeted advertising in the UK and EU. Reed Smith/ Lex August 2023

Meta’s Ad Practices Ruled Illegal Under E.U. Law. Jan 2023 NYT
The above reported case could have very significant implications for targeted advertising

 

EU Rules on Online Targeted Advertising from Covington and Burling/ Lex August 2022 sets out the existing targeted advertising rules and the impact of the DSA, in force January 2024

Facebook's Meta to ban adverts that target people on 'sensitive topics' politics, race and sexual orientation.

Effective 19 January 2022​

 

  • In as much as data will be processed prior to the development of OBA, then GDPR lawful processing rules may apply if that data identifies individuals. Privacy issues should be reviewed with specialist advisors
  • Key profiling guidance is from the Article 29 Working Party, now the European Data Protection Board, in February 2018:
    Guidelines on Automated individual decision-making and Profiling for the purposes of Regulation 2016/679
  • OBA marcoms content will be subject to the Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising here; the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends) also applies and includes a clause (article 9/3) on 'persistent and unwanted solicitations' 
  • Also applicable is the Act on the Provision of Services by Electronic Means (PSEM) PO / EN (articles 4-10) transposes implements elements of the e-Commerce 2000/31/EC and e-Privacy 2002/58/EC Directives; requirements for transparency and for clarity on e.g. promotional conditions are found in articles 9/1 and 9/2
  • See the International tab for details of the self-regulatory initiative for OBA, which is underpinned by IAB Europe’s OBA framework. The European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance EDAA licences the OBA Icon, a consumer-facing, interactive symbol that links consumers to an online portal, www.youronlinechoices.eu, where they can find information on OBA and a mechanism for exercising informed choice
  • IAB Poland replicate the IAB Europe OBA Framework - PO, which will apply to all 3rd parties involved in OBA, and manage the Polish version of the ‘Your Online Choices Consumer Choice platform’:
    http://www.youronlinechoices.com/pl/

 

 

 

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International

SECTION C: COOKIES AND OBA

 

 

NEWS/ COMMENTARY

 

Consent or pay: one rule for some (large online platforms),

another rule for everyone else? Weil Gotshal & Manges 30/8/24

A new path for Privacy Sandbox on the web July 22, 2024

Third party cookie plans for Chrome. WFA view here 

Meta’s Ad-Free Subscription Violates Competition Law

Adam Satariano NYT July 1, 2024

EDPB Opinion 8/2024 on Pay or Consent April 17. Lexia May 8

 

1. COOKIES

 

Applicable legislation, self-regulation and guidance 

Note that legislation is implemented in member states, sometimes with nuance 

 

 

Article 29/EDPB Working Party documents

 

  • Working Document 02/2013 providing guidance on obtaining consent for cookies here
  • Opinion 04/2012 on Cookie Consent Exemption here
  • Opinion 15/2011 on the definition of consent here
  • May 2020 Guidelines on Consent under Regulation 2016/679 here
  • Opinion 5/2019 on the interplay between the ePrivacy Directive and the GDPR here

 

As of 25 May 2018 the Article 29 Working Party ceased to exist and has been replaced by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). Article 29 WP documents remain valid

 

Legislation

 

Directive on privacy and electronic communications 2002/58/EC as amended by Directive 2009/136/EC

 

  • Member States shall ensure that the use of electronic communications networks to store information or to gain access to information stored in the terminal equipment of a subscriber or user is only allowed on condition that the subscriber or user concerned is provided with clear and comprehensive information in accordance with Directive 95/46/EC, inter alia about the purposes of the processing, and is offered the right to refuse such processing by the data controller. This shall not prevent any technical storage or access for the sole purpose of carrying out or facilitating the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network, or as strictly necessary in order to provide an information society service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user (Art. 5.3)

 

GDPR

 

  • The introduction of the GDPR 2016/679 from May 25, 2018: in the event that cookies that identify individuals are deployed, then GDPR lawful processing rules apply. GDPR/ privacy issues should be overseen by legal advisors

 

2. OBA 

 

Meta must limit data for personalised ads

BBC October 4, 2024. Hunton Oct 15

EDAA launches new solution to DSA ad transparency requirements

EDPB ban on Meta processing personal data for behavioural advertising

DAC Beachcroft/ Lex December 6, 2023. EDPB here

Privacy Challenges For Digital Advertising, Particularly In Europe

Squire Patton Boggs 22 November, 2023

 

Applicable regulation and opinion

 

 

 

Opinion/ guidance 

 

Article 29 Working Party* documents

 

 

*As of 25 May 2018 the Article 29 Working Party ceased to exist and has been replaced by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). Article 29 WP documents remain valid

 

European self-regulatory programme for OBA

 

  • A good number of companies and organisations in Europe are engaged in the European self-regulatory programme for OBA, administered by the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA http://www.edaa.eu). The OBA Icon, which can be found on digital advertising and on web pages to signal that OBA is on those sites, is licensed to participating companies by the EDAA. The consumer is provided with a link to the OBA Consumer Choice Platform - http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/ - a pan-European website with information on how data is used, a mechanism to ‘turn off’ data collection and use, and a portal to connect with national Self-Regulatory Organisations for consumer complaint handling
  • EDAA has published their latest (2021) European Advertising Consumer Research Report, which provides an overview of respondents’ attitudes and awareness of the European Self-Regulatory Programme for Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA) in ten European markets (Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain & Sweden). Read the full report here

 

 
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5. Emails & SMS

Sector

SECTION C: DIRECT ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

 

 

KEY RULES

 

  • The content rules for Food and Soft Drinks in section B above, and the general rules for all sectors that are found below the sector rules, apply online, except those rules that are specific to broadcast 
  • The principal source of self-regulatory rules is the Code of Ethics in Advertising; see appendix 2 in particular. In legislation, the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)
  • The ban on advertising Food and Soft Drink products to children under 12, unless those products meet nutritional criteria, applies in the digital space
  • The general channel rules, i.e. those that apply to all product categories Food and Soft Drinks included, are shown below under the General tab. These include, for example, statutory consent and information requirements
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press

 

 

EU Pledge

 

The EU Pledge Implementation Guidance Direct Marketing under pt. 8; 

commitments enhanced July 2021, effective January 2022

 

 

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General

SECTION C: DIRECT ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

 

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION 

 

  • Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising PO / EN applies to advertising as defined under article 3 and incorporates Chapter VII Direct Marketing 
  • Code of Ethics Polish Direct Marketing Association SMB PO / EN (Chapter VI: e-Commerce; s. 37.1 in Polish version, 38.1 in English version; new email section 33 here)
  • Code of Good Practice in Mobile Advertising PO / EN from mobile operators Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Polkomtel, Orange and P4, in conjunction with IAB Poland

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION 

 

  • The Act on the Provision of Services by Electronic Means (PSEM) PO / EN (articles 4-10) transposes implements elements of the e-Commerce 2000/31/EC and e-Privacy 2002/58/EC Directives
  • See this November 2021 judgement from CJEU re unsolicited 'Inbox advertising' and related article from GALA/ Lex here 
  • The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends) applies to B2C commercial practices; includes e.g. misleadingness rules and 'Invitation to purchase' requirements as well as an 'intrusion' clause under article 9. Transposes UCPD 2005/29/EC
  • GDPR 2016/679: if data processing identifies individuals, then GDPR lawful processing rules may apply. Privacy issues should be reviewed with specialist advisors
  • The Personal Data Protection Act of May 10th 2018 PO / EN (link temporarily bust) implements/ recognises the GDPR and its accompanying Directive 2016/680. GDPR applies directly in all member states

 

SOME EDPB GUIDANCE

 

 

KEY CLAUSES LEGISLATION 

 

B2C: Opt-in regime

 

  • Direct marketing by email is permitted if the recipient has given his/ her prior consent to receiving such emails, in particular, by disclosing his/ her email address for that purpose (Art. 10 (1)/(2) PSEM)
  • Consent cannot be presumed or implied and can be revoked at any time. The sender must also be able to provide proof of consent (Art. 4 PSEM)
  • Making persistent and unwanted solicitations by email is considered an aggressive thus unfair commercial practice under article 9 (3) UCPA, confirmed by article 10.3 PSEM

 

Information requirements

 

  • As Direct email will frequently include offers, information requirements from the UCPA when making an ‘Invitation to purchase' are extracted here
  • All marketing communications/ advertising content in direct electronic media  is subject to the UCPA rules on unfair commercial practices, especially in this context misleading or unfair actions or omissions shown under articles 5, 6 and 7 of the Act linked again here 
 

The sender must provide the recipient with (Art. 5.2 PSEM):

 

  • His/ her electronic email addresses
  • His/ her name, surname, a place of residence and an address, or its name or a firm, headquarters and address

 

The sender must also clearly identify (Art. 9.1 & 9.2(1-3) PSEM)

 

  • The commercial communication as such; it must be clearly defined and marked in a manner that doesn’t leave any doubt that it is a commercial communication
  • The entity on behalf of whom the commercial communication is made, providing name and email addresses
  • Promotional offers and activities (in particular price reductions), free benefits in cash or in kind and other benefits related to the promoted goods, service or image, as well as the conditions for participation
  • Any other information which may have an impact on the extent of liability of the parties, in particular, warnings and restrictions

 

B2B: Provisions from PSEM above on direct marketing by e-mail are not applicable to corporate subscribers. Article 10 only applies to 'natural persons'. Opt-in applies for email addresses which clearly identify an individual (e.g. tim.burton@wikiregs.com). However, for generic email addresses (info@wikiregs.com), opt-out principle will apply (source: FEDMA)

 
 

KEY CLAUSES SELF-REGULATION

 

  • SMB Code: All commercial communications should be easily recognisable as such. The person initiating such communication, whether a natural or legal person, should be easily identifiable. This rule also applies without exception to unsolicited commercial communications which are carried out by electronic mail (s. 37 (1) SMB Code) 
  • New email section (33) of the SMB Code here (EN)
  • Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN): Chapter VII Direct Marketing, articles 45-48 , applicable to B2C and B2B:
 
  • 1. Direct marketing activities, including the offers related to direct marketing, should be carried out so as to be understandable for the beneficiary. In particular, the beneficiary should always be able to identify the advertised product and the terms of the offer, including the price. 2. The beneficiary of an offer delivered within the framework of direct marketing should always be able to identify such offer as an advertisement. An offer may easily be mistaken for a bill or an invoice should not be made. 3. An offer delivered within the framework of direct marketing must clearly indicate what liabilities will be imposed on the beneficiary upon offer acceptance. 4. The information transferred within the framework of direct marketing, which has an effect on the beneficiary’s decision (e.g. payment terms, making returns, and waivers of the agreement), must be transferred in such a manner and within such time to make it possible for the beneficiary to take such information into account before accepting the offer. 5. No products for which a payment is requested without prior ordering of such products can be offered within the framework of direct marketing (Art. 45)
  • 1. An offer delivered within the framework of direct marketing cannot be misleading in particular with respect to the true sizes, value, nature, durability, appearance, and technical potential of the product advertised, and if: a) additional accessories are necessary for: (i) using the product or (ii) obtaining the described or demonstrated effect, this must be clearly stated, b) the offer is applicable to separately sold products, this should be unequivocally stated. 2. If an offer delivered within the framework of direct marketing contains a proposal of, for example, “free examination” or “free trial” of a product, then the offer must contain the terms of such use, including but not limited to the information on who bears the costs of product return and time limitations in its use. 3. An offer delivered within the framework of direct marketing must contain information on when the seller and the advertiser may be contacted so as to enable the beneficiary to directly and effectively contact them. At the moment of delivery of the product the beneficiary must be informed on complete names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the seller and the advertiser (Art. 46)
  • 1. Within the framework of direct marketing, offers must be made so as to respect the privacy of the beneficiary. 2. If personal data are collected within the framework of direct marketing, the beneficiary must be clearly informed thereof, with indication of the scope of processing of such data. The collection, storage, and use of data must be compliant with the Personal Data Protection Act. 3. The beneficiary of offers received within the framework of direct marketing, including but not limited to offers received with the use of addressed mails, non-addressed prints, telephones, telephone text and multimedia messages (e.g. SMSs, MMSs, etc.), faxes, e-mail or other methods of addressed online communications must be able to verify the sender of such an offer, and where applicable also the source from which the beneficiary’s data originate. 4. The promoter must comply with beneficiaries’ demands if they wish not to receive offers delivered within the framework of direct marketing, including but not limited to addressed mails, non-addressed prints, telephones, telephone text and multimedia messages (e.g. SMSs, MMSs, etc.), faxes, e-mail or other methods of addressed online communications, by cessation of delivery of such offers. The beneficiary may express his will not to receive the mails from the specific promoter by transferring to such promoter the respective request. The beneficiary may also express his wish not to receive the mails of the specific type by registering himself on the appropriate preference list or by displaying at the place of delivery of mails the information on such request (Art. 47)

 

 

  • Code of Good Practice in Mobile Advertising PO / EN; applicable to push ads SMS/ MMS. Point 8: SMS Spam Policy: Five principles of anti-spam policy in mobile advertising

 

 

 

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International

SECTION C: DIRECT ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

 

 

Direct Marketing of Goods and Services in EU

ICLG April 2024. Clear and informative and (EN)

2024 GDMA International email benchmark 

Posted June 2024

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION AND LEGISLATION 

 

  • For content rules in all channels, refer to the earlier content section B. The principal source of general international content rules is the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN 2024), which applies to all channels. Where there are content rules specific to the channels in this section, we show them below
  • The channel rules shown here are ‘general’ cross-border regulations, i.e. those channel rules that apply to product sectors that do not attract particular restrictions in, for example, youth databases; rules for channel-sensitive product sectors such as alcohol or gambling can be found under their respective headings on the main website
  • Chapter C of the ICC Code (full code linked above): Direct Marketing and Digital Marketing Communications; General Provisions of the ICC Code will also apply
  • Directive 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce carries the rules on information to be provided in commercial communications in an e-commerce context; extracts below 
  • Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic communications carries the rules on privacy/ consent, setting out the prevailing European opt-in regime; extracts below
  • GDPR may apply if processing personal data; check privacy issues with specialist advisors 
  • See this November 2021 judgement from CJEU re unsolicited 'Inbox advertising' and related article from GALA/ Lexology here 

 

 
LEGISLATION

 

Directive 2002/58/EC; Article 13

Unsolicited communications

 

  1. The use of automated calling systems without human intervention (automatic calling machines), facsimile machines (fax) or electronic mail for the purposes of direct marketing may only be allowed in respect of subscribers who have given their prior consent
  2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where a natural or legal person obtains from its customers their electronic contact details for electronic mail, in the context of the sale of a product or a service, in accordance with Directive 95/46/EC*, the same natural or legal person may use these electronic contact details for direct marketing of its own similar products or services provided that customers clearly and distinctly are given the opportunity to object, free of charge and in an easy manner, to such use of electronic contact details when they are collected and on the occasion of each message in case the customer has not initially refused such use
  3. Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that, free of charge, unsolicited communications for purposes of direct marketing, in cases other than those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, are not allowed either without the consent of the subscribers concerned or in respect of subscribers who do not wish to receive these communications, the choice between these options to be determined by national legislation
  4. In any event, the practice of sending electronic mail for purposes of direct marketing disguising or concealing the identity of the sender on whose behalf the communication is made, or without a valid address to which the recipient may send a request that such communications cease, shall be prohibited
  5. Paragraphs 1 and 3 shall apply to subscribers who are natural persons. Member States shall also ensure, in the framework of Community law and applicable national legislation, that the legitimate interests of subscribers other than natural persons with regard to unsolicited communications are sufficiently protected

* Repealed; GDPR applies 

 

Directive 2000/31/EC: Article 5
General information to be provided in an e-Commerce context

 

  1. In addition to other information requirements established by community law, member states shall ensure that the service provider shall render easily, directly and permanently accessible to the recipients of the service and competent authorities, at least the following information:

 

  1. The name of the service provider
  2. The geographic address at which the service provider is established
  3. The details of the service provider, including his electronic mail address, which allow him to be contacted rapidly and communicated with in a direct and effective manner
  4. Where the service provider is registered in a trade or similar public register, the trade register in which the service provider is entered and his registration number, or equivalent means of identification in that register
  5. Where the activity is subject to an authorisation scheme, the particulars of the relevant supervisory authority
  6. As concerns the regulated professions

 

- any professional body or similar institution with which the service provider is registered

- the professional title and the Member State where it has been granted

- a reference to the applicable professional rules in the Member State of establishment and the means to access them
 

  1. Where the service provider undertakes an activity that is subject to VAT, the identification number referred to in Article 22(1) of the sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes - Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (29)
  2. In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall at least ensure that, where information society services refer to prices, these are to be indicated clearly and unambiguously and, in particular, must indicate whether they are inclusive of tax and delivery costs

 

Section 2: Commercial communications
Article 6

 

  • Information to be provided: In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall ensure that commercial communications which are part of, or constitute, an information society service comply at least with the following conditions:

 

  1. The commercial communication shall be clearly identifiable as such
  2. The natural or legal person on whose behalf the commercial communication is made shall be clearly identifiable
  3. Promotional offers, such as discounts, premiums and gifts, where permitted in the Member State where the service provider is established, shall be clearly identifiable as such, and the conditions which are to be met to qualify for them shall be easily accessible and be presented clearly and unambiguously
  4. Promotional competitions or games, where permitted in the Member State where the service provider is established, shall be clearly identifiable as such, and the conditions for participation shall be easily accessible and be presented clearly and unambiguously

 

 

Article 7
Unsolicited commercial communication

 

  1. In addition to other requirements established by Community law, Member States which permit unsolicited commercial communication by electronic mail shall ensure that such commercial communication by a service provider established in their territory shall be identifiable clearly and unambiguously as such as soon as it is received by the recipient
  2. Without prejudice to Directive 97/7/EC and Directive 97/66/EC, Member States shall take measures to ensure that service providers undertaking unsolicited commercial communications by electronic mail consult regularly and respect the opt-out registers in which natural persons not wishing to receive such commercial communications can register themselves
 
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EU guidance documents

 

  • Opinion 5/2004 on unsolicited communications for marketing purposes under article 13 of Directive 2002/58/EC. Adopted on 27 February 2004 (WP 90)
  • Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on unsolicited commercial communications or 'spam'
    http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/GA/TXT/?uri=celex:52004DC0028 
  • November 2021 judgement from CJEU re unsolicited 'Inbox advertising' and related article from GALA/ Lexology here 
  • Opinion 15/2011 on the definition of consent here 
  • May 2020 Guidelines on Consent under Regulation 2016/679 here
 
 
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6. Own Websites & SNS

Sector

SECTION C: MARKETERS' OWN WEBSITES

 

 

CONTEXT

 

The same principle that applies in paid space also applies in non-paid space such as marketers’ own websites and SNS spaces: if the communication from the owner is advertising, it’s covered. The self-regulatory definition of advertising from Rada Reklamy is “the message containing in particular information or a statement, especially made for a fee or remunerated otherwise, accompanying anybody’s activity which aims to increase the sale of products, to obtain another form of using the products, or to obtain another effect, desired by the advertiser. Advertisement shall also include sales promotion, offers intended to the recipients in the form of direct marketing, or sponsorship.”

 

Standard rules 

 

  • The content rules for Food and Soft Drinks in section B above, and the general content rules for all sectors that are found below the sector rules, apply to advertising on marketers' own websites, except those rules that are specific to broadcast 
  • The principal source of self-regulatory rules is the Code of Ethics in Advertising; see appendix 2 in particular. In legislation, the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)
  • The ban on advertising Food and Soft Drink products to children under 12, unless those products meet nutritional criteria, applies in the digital space
  • The channel (placement) rules shown under the General tab below apply to all sectors, Food and Soft Drinks included. These rules include, for example, statutory consent and information requirements when advertisers are in (some) exchanges with website visitors
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press

 

EU Pledge

 

  • The EU Pledge members commit either to: 
     
    • Only advertise products to children under the age of 12 years (now 13; see enhanced commitments below) that meet the common Nutrition Criteria; or
    • Not to advertise their products at all to children under the age of 13 years 
    • Commitments enhanced July 2021, effective January 2022

 

 

 

 

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General

SECTION C: MARKETERS' OWN WEBSITES

 

 

CONTEXT

 

The same principle that applies in paid space also applies in owned, such as marketers’ own websites and SNS spaces: if the communication from the owner is advertising, it’s in remit. Advertising is defined in the applicable RR Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) as a ‘message …. which aims to increase the sale of products, to obtain another form of using the products, or to obtain another effect desired by the advertiser. Advertising shall also include sales promotion, offers intended to the recipients in the form of direct marketing, or sponsorship.' Clearly, much content on owned websites won’t be advertising; for clarification of exemptions, e.g. UGC, see the EASA Recommendation linked below. Issues arise from the introduction of the GDPR 2016/679 from May 25, 2018: in the event that data processing (which may include cookies) identifies individuals, then lawful processing rules from the GDPR may apply. Privacy issues should be reviewed with specialist advisors.

 

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION

 

  • If processing personal data, lawful processing rules from the GDPR may apply 
  • Cookies: Telecommunications Act PO / EN (Art. 173 paras 1-3 implements the Cookie Directive 2009/136/EC via amendment article 1 (122) of the Act of 16 November 2012 
  • e-Commerce: the Act on the Provision of Services by Electronic Means (PSEM) PO / EN (Arts. 9.1/ 9.2)
  • As with all media, that which qualifies as advertising on Marketers' Own Websites will also be subject to The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends), which implements the UCP Directive 2005/29/EC and applies to B2C practices; in December 2022 the law was amended to incorporate provisions from the Omnibus Directive 2019/2161 which include inter alia new requirements on search rankings and consumer reviews. See articles 5, 6 and 7 of the laws linked above where new provisions in the English version are italicised
  • The Unfair Competition Act UCA PO / EN (note on translation here) protects businesses from acts of unfair competition (art. 3.1), implementing the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive 2006/114/EC
  • The Broadcasting act was amended by the act of August 11th 2021 (PO) that transposed Directive 2018/1808; the Directive extends AVMSD rules online and in particular to video-sharing platforms: platforms must identify to users commercial communications in posts where known, and require the same of contributors. Content rules are essentially unchanged and shown for the Directive here

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION 

 

  • Content rules, principally from the Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising, will apply when messaging qualifies as advertising; see definition above in the introduction. Other content rules from section B will also apply 
  • Code of Ethics of the Polish Direct Marketing Association (SMB) PO / EN (Chapter VI: e-Commerce; s. 35 in Polish version: Information about the Trader; s. 37 in Polish version: Commercial Communication
  • EASA’s Best Practice Recommendation Digital Marketing Communications 2023 establishes some exemptions in this context, such as User-generated Content (unless endorsed by the marketer), under Section 2 of the linked document
  • The EASA Best Practice Recommendation on Influencer Marketing 2023 is not binding, but it is helpful guidance on how European regulators should approach this marketing technique

 

EDPB GUIDANCE 

 

 

KEY CLAUSES SELF-REGULATION

 

A significant issue in online’s less structured environment is the identification of advertising, especially in the context of Influencer marketing hence in this case extracting recognisability rules as well as the core misleadingness provision

 

  • Advertiser, promoter, operator and media, each of them only within the scope of its advertising-related activities, will obey the rule, that every recipient of advertising made or distributed with his participation should be able to identify, that particular message is an advertisement (Art. 9)
  • 1. Advertisements should not mislead their recipients, in particular with regard to: a) important characteristics such as nature, composition, method and date of manufacture, range of use, quantity, origin (also geographical) of the advertised item; b) value of the product and the total price actually to be paid for the product as well as other payment conditions like instalment sales, leasing, credit sales, bargain sales; c) terms of delivery, exchange, return, repair and maintenance; d) guarantee terms; e) intellectual and industrial property rights such in particular patents, names, trademarks, and industrial designs and models f) official permits or approvals, awards, prizes, medals, and diplomas; g) the extent of the entrepreneur’s benefits for charitable causes. 2. Data as well as scientific terms, quotations from technical or scientific publications not considered data within the meaning of the Code, used in advertisements, must indicate their source and cannot be used in a misleading manner. The data must be presented correctly from the methodological point of view. Presentation of statistical data must in particular take into account the rules of statistical inference, including the phenomenon of statistical error

 

Sect. 37.1 SMB Code: Commercial Communication:

 

  • All commercial communications should be easily recognizable as such. The person initiating such communication, whether a natural or legal person, should be easily identifiable. This rule also applies without exception to unsolicited commercial communications which are carried out by electronic mail (s. 37 (1) SMB Code)
  • Internet technology should not be used to mislead customers as to the nature of a product or service in a promotion or offer. In addition, traders should not deceitfully restrict/ hamper the customer’s ability to leave the website and should make every effort to ensure that the search criteria accurately reflect the content of the site (s. 37 (3) SMB Code)

 

KEY CLAUSES LEGISLATION


Obligations for service providers who provide services by electronic means:

 

  • Commercial communications must be clearly identified and marked in such a way that there is no doubt that it is a commercial communication (Art. 9.1 PSEM)
  • Commercial communications must include (Art. 9.2(1-3) PSEM):

 

  • The name of the entity on behalf of whom the communication is made, and its email addresses
  • Clear description of the form of promotional activities, in particular: price reductions (discounts), free benefits in cash or in kind and other benefits related to the promoted goods, service or image, as well as the clear identification of the conditions necessary to take advantage of these benefits, if they are a component of the offer,
  • Any other information, which may have an impact on the extent of the responsibility of the parties, in particular warnings and restrictions

 

Extracts from the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices re Identification 

 

  • Article 6 (1). A commercial practice shall be regarded as tacitly misleading if it fails to provide material information that the average consumer needs to take an informed transactional decision and thereby causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that (s)he would not have taken otherwise
  • 3. In particular, the following practices may be misleading:​ 1) withholding material information on the product or failing to provide such information in a clear, unambiguous or timely manner;​  2) failing to disclose the commercial purpose of the practice if this is not clearly apparent from the circumstances and if this causes or may cause the average consumer to take a contractual decision which (s)he otherwise would not have taken
  • Article 7. The following misleading commercial practices constitute unfair commercial practices in all circumstances:​ 11) advertorial, which involves using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer;​ 22) claiming or creating the impression that the trader is not acting for purposes relating to his/her business or profession, or representing oneself as a consumer when this is not the case

 

Invitation to purchase 

 

  • 4. In the case of an offer to purchase a product, material information within the meaning of Article 6 (1) shall be constituted by the following in particular:
 
  •  1) the main characteristics of the product, to an extent appropriate to the medium used to communicate with consumers and the product;​  2) forename, surname (corporate name) and address of the trader (registered office) and of the trader on whose behalf it is acting;  3) the price inclusive of taxes, or, where the nature of the product means that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated, as well as all additional freight, delivery or postal charges or, where these charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, information to the effect that such additional charges may be payable;​ 4) the arrangements for payment, delivery, performance and the complaint handling policy;​ 5) information on the right to withdraw from or annul the contract, if such a right is enshrined in the Act or in the contract
 
  • 5. When assessing whether a commercial practice is tacitly misleading, all of its elements and the circumstances of the product launch, including the way in which it was presented, should be taken into account
  • 6. Where the medium used to communicate with consumers for the commercial practice imposes limitations of space or time, these limitations and any measures taken by the trader to make the information available to consumers by other means shall be taken into account when deciding whether information has been omitted

 

 

 

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International

 

CONTEXT

 

The same principle that applies in paid space also applies in non-paid such as marketers’ own websites and SNS spaces: if the communication from the owner is advertising, it’s ‘in remit’, i.e. covered by the rules. Clearly, much of a brand website may not be advertising, but it's important to understand what may 'qualify', and different countries have different definitions. In this international context the most relevant definition is from the ICC Code: ‘any communications produced directly by or on behalf of marketers intended primarily to promote products or to influence consumer behaviour’. The other aspect of this environment that can be subject to regulatory issues is that of 'dialogue' between brand owners and consumers, where Consent and Information requirements may apply; see our General rules sector for specifics

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION, LEGISLATION AND GUIDANCE 

 

ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN 2024); Chapter C Direct Marketing and Digital Marketing Communications

Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic communications

Directive 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce

Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices (UCPD)

Directive 2018/1808 amending AVMS Directive 2010/13/EU (AVMSD)

EASA Best Practice Recommendation on Digital Marketing Communications 2023

 

Standard rules

 

  • For content rules in all channels, refer to the earlier content section B. The principal source of general international content rules is the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN), which applies to all channels. Where there are content rules specific to the channels in this section, we show them below
  • These channel rules are ‘general’ cross-border regulations, i.e. those channel rules that apply to product sectors that do not attract particular restrictions in, for example, youth-oriented content; rules for channel-sensitive product sectors such as alcohol or gambling can be found under their respective headings on the main website
 
LEGISLATION

 

Directive 2002/58/EC on Privacy and Electronic communications; Article 13

Unsolicited communications

 
  1. The use of automated calling systems without human intervention (automatic calling machines), facsimile machines (fax) or electronic mail for the purposes of direct marketing may only be allowed in respect of subscribers who have given their prior consent
  2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where a natural or legal person obtains from its customers their electronic contact details for electronic mail, in the context of the sale of a product or a service, in accordance with Directive 95/46/EC, the same natural or legal person may use these electronic contact details for direct marketing of its own similar products or services provided that customers clearly and distinctly are given the opportunity to object, free of charge and in an easy manner, to such use of electronic contact details when they are collected and on the occasion of each message in case the customer has not initially refused such use
  3. Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that, free of charge, unsolicited communications for purposes of direct marketing, in cases other than those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, are not allowed either without the consent of the subscribers concerned or in respect of subscribers who do not wish to receive these communications, the choice between these options to be determined by national legislation
  4. In any event, the practice of sending electronic mail for purposes of direct marketing disguising or concealing the identity of the sender on whose behalf the communication is made, or without a valid address to which the recipient may send a request that such communications cease, shall be prohibited
  5. Paragraphs 1 and 3 shall apply to subscribers who are natural persons. Member States shall also ensure, in the framework of Community law and applicable national legislation, that the legitimate interests of subscribers other than natural persons with regard to unsolicited communications are sufficiently protected
 
Directive 2000/31/EC on e-Commerce: Article 5
General information to be provided
 
  1. In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall ensure that the service provider shall render easily, directly and permanently accessible to the recipients of the service and competent authorities, at least the following information
     
(a) The name of the service provider
(b) The geographic address at which the service provider is established
(c) The details of the service provider, including his electronic mail address, which allow him to be contacted rapidly and communicated with in a direct and effective manner
(d) Where the service provider is registered in a trade or similar public register, the trade register in which the service provider is entered and his registration number, or equivalent means of identification in that register
(e) Where the activity is subject to an authorisation scheme, the particulars of the relevant supervisory authority
(f) As concerns the regulated professions
 
- any professional body or similar institution with which the service provider is registered
- the professional title and the Member State where it has been granted
- a reference to the applicable professional rules in the Member State of establishment and the means to access them
 
(g) Where the service provider undertakes an activity that is subject to VAT, the identification number referred to in Article 22(1) of the sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes - Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment(29)
  1. In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall at least ensure that, where information society services refer to prices, these are to be indicated clearly and unambiguously and, in particular, must indicate whether they are inclusive of tax and delivery costs
 
Section 2: Commercial communications
Article 6
 
Information to be provided: In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall ensure that commercial communications which are part of, or constitute, an information society service comply at least with the following conditions:
 
  1. The commercial communication shall be clearly identifiable as such
  2. The natural or legal person on whose behalf the commercial communication is made shall be clearly identifiable
  3. Promotional offers, such as discounts, premiums and gifts, where permitted in the Member State where the service provider is established, shall be clearly identifiable as such, and the conditions which are to be met to qualify for them shall be easily accessible and be presented clearly and unambiguously
  4. Promotional competitions or games, where permitted in the Member State where the service provider is established, shall be clearly identifiable as such, and the conditions for participation shall be easily accessible and be presented clearly and unambiguously
 
Article 7. Unsolicited commercial communication
 
  1. In addition to other requirements established by community law, member states which permit unsolicited commercial communication by electronic mail shall ensure that such commercial communication by a service provider established in their territory shall be identifiable clearly and unambiguously as such as soon as it is received by the recipient
  2. Without prejudice to Directive 97/7/EC and Directive 97/66/EC, member states shall take measures to ensure that service providers undertaking unsolicited commercial communications by electronic mail consult regularly and respect the opt-out registers in which natural persons not wishing to receive such commercial communications can register themselves
 
Directive 2005/29/EC on Unfair Commercial Practices (UCPD)
Article 7. Misleading omissions (includes reference to 'Invitation to Purchase')

 

  1. A commercial practice shall be regarded as misleading if, in its factual context, taking account of all its features and circumstances and the limitations of the communication medium, it omits material information that the average consumer needs, according to the context, to take an informed transactional decision and thereby causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise
  2. It shall also be regarded as a misleading omission when, taking account of the matters described in paragraph 1, a trader hides or provides in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner such material information as referred to in that paragraph or fails to identify the commercial intent of the commercial practice if not already apparent from the context, and where, in either case, this causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise
  3. Where the medium used to communicate the commercial practice imposes limitations of space or time, these limitations and any measures taken by the trader to make the information available to consumers by other means shall be taken into account in deciding whether information has been omitted
  4. In the case of an invitation to purchase, the following information shall be regarded as material, if not already apparent from the context:

 

  1. the main characteristics of the product, to an extent appropriate to the medium and the product
  2. the geographical address and the identity of the trader, such as his trading name and, where applicable, the geographical address and the identity of the trader on whose behalf he is acting
  3. the price inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the product means that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated, as well as, where appropriate, all additional freight, delivery or postal charges or, where these charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the fact that such additional charges may be payable
  4. the arrangements for payment, delivery, performance and the complaint handling policy, if they depart from the requirements of professional diligence
  5. for products and transactions involving a right of withdrawal or cancellation, the existence of such a right

 

5.   Information requirements established by Community law in relation to commercial communication including advertising or marketing, a non-exhaustive list of which is contained in Annex II, shall be regarded as material

 
Directive 2018/1808 amending the AVMS Directive 

 

  • Extends rules across online platforms (provided that the service qualifies as an audiovisual media service or video sharing platform); the key amends to the Directive's content rules are assembled here

  • For video sharing platforms, articles 28a and 28b in the Directive linked above apply. We recommend perusal. From a commercial communications perspective, the key new ingredients are that article 9 of the AVMSD applies (found here) and that video-sharing platform providers 'clearly inform users where programmes and user-generated videos contain audiovisual commercial communications' - where they are aware of those - and provide a facility for those uploading also to declare the presence of commercial commnications  

 

GUIDANCE

 

EU Guidance/ opinion documents

 

 
 
2.2.5. Marketer-owned digital properties
 
As established in the previous sections, all marketing communications, as defined by the ICC Code, fall within the remit of SR systems. It is not, however, always immediately apparent to what extent content on marketer-owned digital properties may constitute marketing communications and thus fall within the remit of the SROs. It should never be automatically assumed that a marketer-owned digital property is a marketing communication in its entirety. The actual content of the marketer-owned digital property must be reviewed to determine that which is marketing communication content and that which is not. For this purpose the following criteria establish whether or not the content, or part of the content of a marketer-owned digital property constitutes a marketing communication:
 
  • Claims (implied, direct, written, spoken and visual) about products or marketers, where the claim is not made in the context of editorial content, annual reports, CSR reports, or similar
  • Where they pertain to the marketing communications and commercial practices covered by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (for example, price promotions and invitations to purchase)
  • Third-party UGC and/or viral marketing that has been distributed or endorsed by the marketer
  • Marketing communications that have previously appeared, in the same or comparable form, on other media platforms, including online media platforms

 

SOCIAL NETWORK SITES

 

  1. FACEBOOK

  1. INSTAGRAM 
  1. TWITTER:
  1. YOUTUBE: advertiser friendly content guidelines here:
  1. SNAPCHAT:
  1. GOOGLE +
  1. TIK TOK

 

 

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7. Native Advertising

Sector

SECTION C: NATIVE ADVERTISING

 

 

CONTEXT

 

Also known as sponsored or branded content, this is online and offline advertising designed to fit in with its ‘habitat’, to give consumers a visually consistent experience. IAB Europe’s How to Comply with EU Rules Applicable to Online Native Advertising provides some categories of native ads, some good practice recommendations, and a summary of EU rules. Category-specific rules are immediately below; the key rule is that of identifiability/ disclosure and that's spelt out under the General rules tab below

 

RULES

 

  • The content rules for Food and Soft Drinks in Section B above, and the General content rules for all sectors that are found below the sector rules, apply to native advertising
  • The principal source of self-regulatory rules is the Code of Ethics in Advertising; see appendix 2 in particular. In legislation, the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)
  • The ban on advertising Food and Soft Drinks products to children under 12, unless those products meet nutritional criteria, applies to all channels/ techniques
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press

 

 

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General

SECTION C: NATIVE ADVERTISING

 

 

CONTEXT

 

Also known as sponsored or branded content, this is online and offline advertising designed to fit in with its ‘habitat’, to give consumers a visually consistent experience. IAB Europe’s December 2016 How to Comply with EU Rules Applicable to Online Native Advertising provides some categories of Native ads, some good practice recommendations, and a summary of EU rules and their December 2021 Guide to Native Advertising provides 'up-to-date insight into native ad formats and key considerations and best practices for buyers.' The key issue for this technique, obviously, is that of advertising identifiability. Native advertising, like any other advertising, is also subject to the rules set out in our content section B

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION 

 

  • The Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising (EN) applies to advertising content as defined and incorporates an identification rule set out below  
  • The ICC’s Guidance on Native Advertising (EN). The guidance is based on the ICC Code (EN) article 9 Identification
  • Code of Good Practice of Press Publishers PO / EN (Section 4) from the Polish Chamber of Press Publishers Izba Wydawców Prasy (IWP). Extracts below

 

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION 

  • The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends), which implements the UCP Directive 2005/29/EC and applies to B2C practices; the UCPA carries a number of rules on advertising identification; see below 
  • The Unfair Competition Act UCA PO / EN; note on translation here. See relevant article 16 below 
  • If 'Native' advertising stretches to video-sharing platforms, which it may, the Broadcasting Act amends of 11th August 2021, transposing Directive 2018/1808, require identification of commercial communications by the platform and by the contributor

 

KEY CLAUSES SELF-REGULATION

 

  • Advertiser, promoter, operator and media, each of them only within the scope of its advertising-related activities, will obey the rule, that every recipient of advertising made or distributed with his participation should be able to identify, that a particular message is an advertisement (Art. 9 RR Code)
  • Article 9 Identification from the ICC Code: ‘Marketing communications should be clearly distinguishable as such, whatever their form and whatever the medium used. When an advertisement appears in a medium containing news or editorial matter, it should be so presented that it is readily recognisable as an advertisement and the identity of the advertiser should be apparent (see also article 10). Marketing communications should not misrepresent their true commercial purpose. Hence a marketing communication promoting the sale of a product should not be disguised by the marketer or sponsor as, for example, market research, consumer surveys, user-generated content, private blogs or independent reviews.' 
  • Hidden advertisements, including product placement, shall be forbidden (4.1.10 IWP)
  • The boundary between advertising material and editorial content shall not be blurred. The form of advertising materials and publications must be such as to make their nature of advertisement or announcement obvious to the reader. Advertising materials and announcements must be clearly set apart from editorial content by graphic elements or a different typeset and labelled as ‘advertisement’ (reklama), ‘promotion’ (promocja), ‘announcement’ (ogłoszenie), ‘sponsored text’ (tekst sponsorowany) or the like, making the nature and origin of such materials obvious to the reader. In particular, any advertisements and announcements that are intended to imitate or use editorial content or the publication’s graphic layout must be rejected (Rule 4.2.2 IWP)
  • Neither the name nor the logo of an advertiser or announcer may be used on any of the pages devoted to editorial content unless they are labelled as an advertisement (reklamą) or announcement (ogłoszeniem). An advertiser or announcer whose logo has been placed on a page with editorial content may not have any influence on editorial content. Moreover, an advertiser or announcer’s name or logo may be placed on a page with editorial content in connection with the preparation of events under the publication’s patronage or the financing of prizes in a competition organised by an editorial office or a publisher; the advertiser or announcer must be identified as the sponsor (Rule 4.2.3)
  • See rules 4.3.1/2 for Advertising Supplements conditions

 

KEY CLAUSES LEGISLATION

 

  • A commercial practice will be regarded as misleading by omission if it omits material information that the average consumer needs to take an informed transactional decision and thereby causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise (Art. 6.1 UCPA)
  • In particular, the following practice may be regarded as a misleading omission: Failing to disclose the commercial purpose of the practice (italics ours) if this is not clearly apparent from the circumstances and if this causes or may cause the average consumer to take a contractual decision which he/ she otherwise would not have taken (Art. 6.3 (2) UCPA)
  • When assessing whether a market practice is misleading by omission all its features and circumstances related to the product launch, including its overall presentation, should be taken into account (Art. 6.5 UCPA)
  • The following misleading commercial practice constitutes an unfair commercial practice in all circumstances: Advertorial, which involves using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer (Art. 7.11 UCPA)
  • Applicable B2B: In the field of advertising an act of unfair competition shall be, in particular, the following: Statement encouraging the purchase of products or services by creating the impression of being impartial/ neutral information (Art. 16.1.4 UCA)

 

 

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International

SECTION C: NATIVE ADVERTISING

 

 

NATIVE

 

Also known as sponsored or branded content, this is online and offline advertising designed to fit in with its ‘habitat’, to give consumers a visually consistent experience. IAB Europe's How to Comply with EU Rules Applicable to Online Native Advertising provides some categories of native ads, some good practice recommendations, and a summary of EU rules. General rules, i.e. those that apply to all product sectors, are immediately below

 

APPLICABLE  SELF-REGULATION LEGISLATION AND GUIDANCE

 

ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN 2024)

Directive 2005/29/EC on Unfair Commercial Practices (UCPD)

IAB Europe Guidance (as above in intro): How to Comply with EU Rules Applicable to Online Native Advertising (December 2016) here

And in December 2021 IAB Europe's Guide to Native Advertising provides 'up-to-date insight into native ad formats and best practices for buyers.' 

 

Standard rules

 

  • For content rules in all channels, refer to the earlier content section B. The principal source of general international content rules is the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN 2024), which applies to all channels; the native technique is no different in that if it's advertising, it's subject to the rules
  • These channel rules are ‘general’ cross-border regulations, i.e. those channel rules that apply to product sectors that do not attract particular restrictions in, for example, youth publications; rules for channel-sensitive product sectors such as alcohol or gambling can be found under their respective headings on the main website

 

Self-regulation: key rules from the ICC Code
2024 amends in italics 

 

Identification and transparency (Art. 7)

 

  • Marketing communications should be clearly distinguishable as such, whatever their form and whatever the medium used. When an advertisement, including so-called “native advertising”, appears in a medium containing news or editorial matter, it should be so presented that it is readily recognisable as an advertisement and where appropriate, labelled as such. The true commercial purpose of marketing communications should be transparent and not misrepresent their true commercial purpose. Hence, a communication promoting the sale of a product should not be disguised as, for example, market research, consumer surveys, user-generated content, private blogs, private postings on social media or independent reviews.
  • Marketing communications, regardless of format or medium, should be easily identifiable, allowing consumers to clearly distinguish between commercial and non-commercial content
  • Identification disclosures should be prominent, clear, easily legible and appear in close proximity to the commercial message where they are unlikely to be overlooked by consumers
  • Marketing communications should be transparent about their true commercial purpose, and not misrepresent it. Hence, a communication promoting the sale of goods, or the contracting of a service should not be disguised, for example as news, editorial matter, market research, consumer surveys, consumer reviews, user-generated content, private blogs, private postings on social media or independent reviews etc.
  • In the case of mixed content, such as with news or editorial matter or social media, the marketing communication element should be made clearly distinguishable as such, and its commercial nature should be transparent. It should be so presented that it is readily and immediately recognisable as a marketing communication and where appropriate, labelled as such.

 

 

Identity of the marketer (Art. 8)

 

  • The identity of the marketer should be transparent. Marketing communications should, where appropriate, include contact information to enable the consumer to get in touch with the marketer without difficulty. The above does not apply to communications with the sole purpose of attracting attention to communication activities to follow (e.g. so-called 'teaser advertisements').

 

Legislation 

 

Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I

Commercial practices which are in all circumstances considered unfair

 

  • 11. Using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer (advertorial). This is without prejudice to Council Directive 89/552/EEC

  • 22. Falsely claiming or creating the impression that the trader is not acting for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession, or falsely representing oneself as a consumer

 

 

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8. Telemarketing

Sector

 

 

Following feedback, we no longer cover Telemarketing 

General

 

 

FOLLOWING FEEDBACK, WE NO LONGER COVER TELEMARKETING

International

 

Following feedback, we no longer cover Telemarketing 

9. Direct Postal Mail

Sector

SECTION C: DIRECT POSTAL MAIL

 

 

KEY RULES 

 

  • The content rules for Food and Soft Drinks in section B above, and the general content rules for all sectors that are found below the sector rules, apply to direct postal mail
  • The principal source of self-regulatory rules is the Code of Ethics in Advertising; see appendix 2 in particular. In legislation, the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)
  • The ban on advertising Food and Soft Drinks products to children under 12, unless those products meet nutritional criteria, applies to all channels
  • Processing the data of children anyway requires parental/ guardian permission in the event that your product qualifies under nutritional criteria. See the General rules tab below
  • The rules shown under the General tab apply to all sectors, Food and Soft Drinks included; these include, for example, statutory consent and information requirements
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press
 
EU PLEDGE

 

The EU Pledge Implementation Guidance Direct Marketing under pt. 8; 

commitments enhanced July 2021

 

 

 

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General

SECTION C: DIRECT POSTAL MAIL

 

 

Consumer protection before mail is sent is from two main sources: 1) the rules on the processing of personal data (i.e. data that can identify an individual) in order to send marketing communications, and 2) the ‘Robinson list’ or equivalent, i.e. an opt-out list of people who do not wish to receive marcoms; see below. Privacy issues should be reviewed with specialist advisors

 

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION

 

  • The Personal Data Protection Act of May 10th 2018 PO / EN (link temporarily bust) transposes elements of GDPR and its accompanying Directive 2016/680 
  • The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends) applies to B2C commercial practices and includes e.g. misleadingness rules and 'Invitation to purchase' requirements. Transposes the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC
  • The Unfair Competition Act UCA PO / EN; note on translation here, applies in B2B and in this context mainly relates to comparative advertising. Transposes the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive MACAD 2006/114/EC

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION 

 

  • Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising PO / EN applies to advertising content as defined and incorporates specific direct marketing rules; relevant article 47, applicable to B2C and B2B
  • Content of direct postal mail commercial communications must observe the rules set out in our earlier content section B, except those specific to broadcast media. The principal source of rules is the RR code linked above
  • SMB (Polish Marketing Association) Code of Conduct POThe Robinson List (opt-out register) includes postal mail. Members of SMB must consult this list prior to sending direct mail marketing

 

KEY CLAUSES SELF-REGULATION

 

  • All marketing communications/ advertising content in Direct Postal Mail is subject to the Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising. The core rules are shown under Chapter III Basic Principles of Advertising; Direct Marketing under Chapter VII
  • Direct marketing communications must respect the privacy of the recipient (Art. 47.1 RR Code)
  • If personal data is collected for the purposes of direct marketing, the recipient must be clearly informed of this fact and provided with an indication of the scope of processing of such data. The collection, storage, and use of data must be compliant with the Personal Data Protection Act/ GDPR (Art. 47.2 RR Code)
  • However direct marketing communications are sent (i.e. by email, SMS/ MMS, addressed/ non addressed postal mail, fax, telephone, other means of addressed online communications), the recipient must be able to verify the sender of such a marcom and where applicable, the source by which the sender obtained the recipient’s data (Art. 47.3 RR Code)
  • The marketer must comply with the recipient’s demands if they do not wish to receive DM communications, however sent. The recipient may send their request for DM communications to cease directly to the marketer or by registering on an appropriate preference list (Art. 47.4 RR Code) or by displaying information about such a request at the place of delivery of mail (i.e. on a postbox)
  • SMB Code: All commercial communications should be easily recognisable as such. The person initiating such communication, whether a natural or legal person, should be easily identifiable (s. 37 (1) SMB Code)
  • The Robinson List is only binding on members of the Direct Marketing Association (SMB); it is a condition of membership to observe the Robinson List Regulations (s. 1 (2) SMB Code). SMB makes its Robinson List available to other entities interested in joining the system on a voluntary basis

 

KEY CLAUSES LEGISLATION 

 

  • Applicable B2C: making persistent and unwanted solicitations by telephone, fax, email or other remote media to persuade consumers to purchase goods is considered an aggressive commercial practice under Art. 9 (3) UCPA (EN)
  • As direct mail will frequently include offers, information requirements from the UCPA when making an ‘Invitation to purchase' are extracted here (EN)
  • All marketing communications/ advertising content in direct postal mail is subject to the UCPA rules on unfair commercial practices, especially in this context misleading or unfair actions or omissions shown under articles 5, 6 and 7 of the act linked again here (EN)
  • The Unfair Competition Act (EN) is most relevant in this context to rules on comparative advertising; see article 16 of the UCA

 

 

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International

SECTION C: DIRECT POSTAL MAIL

 

 

Applicable self-regulation and legislation 

 

Standard rules

 

  • For content rules, refer to the earlier content section B. The principal source of general international content rules is the ICC code linked immediately above, most of which content rules apply to all channels
  • The UCPD referenced and linked above will also apply to direct postal mail; this legislation provides a broad framework regulating commercial practices of all kinds; articles 6 and 7 establish regulation of misleading actions and misleading omissions respectively 
  • Channel rules in this international context are ‘general’ cross-border regulations, i.e. those channel rules that apply to product sectors that do not attract particular restrictions in, for example, youth databases; rules for channel-sensitive product sectors such as alcohol or gambling can be found under their respective headings on the main website
  • There isn't really a common set of self-regulatory general channel rules that cross borders for direct postal mail (largely a market activity), though article 22 (data protection and privacy) of the iCC Code linked above comes closest, but there is a common principle: unless you have consent to process their personal data and send them material, in other words they have 'opted in', you can't send consumers marketing communications. Postal mail to e.g. 'the occupier' of individual addresses, is generally permitted, though some countries have arrangements whereby local communities display signs preventing, or trying to prevent, delivery.
  • From legislation, the GDPR will apply if processing personal data (that which can identify an individual)

 

 

Legislation

 

As Direct Mail will frequently include offers, when trhat's the case the provisions related to 'Invitations to Purchase' in the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive may apply. Extracts are:

 

4.   In the case of an invitation to purchase, the following information shall be regarded as material, if not already apparent from the context:

 

  1. the main characteristics of the product, to an extent appropriate to the medium and the product
  2. the geographical address and the identity of the trader, such as his trading name and, where applicable, the geographical address and the identity of the trader on whose behalf he is acting
  3. the price inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the product means that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated, as well as, where appropriate, all additional freight, delivery or postal charges or, where these charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the fact that such additional charges may be payable
  4. the arrangements for payment, delivery, performance and the complaint handling policy, if they depart from the requirements of professional diligence
  5. for products and transactions involving a right of withdrawal or cancellation, the existence of such a right

 

5.   Information requirements established by Community law in relation to commercial communication including advertising or marketing, a non-exhaustive list of which is contained in Annex II, shall be regarded as material

 

  • Per above, in the event of processing personal data (i.e. data that will/ can identify an individual) the required legal basis for processing that data may be subject to the GDPR; check privacy issues with specialist advisors

 

 

Guidance

Guidelines on consent under Regulation 2016/679 (May 2020)

 

 

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10. Event Sponsorship/ Field Marketing

Sector

SECTION C: EVENTS/ SPONSORSHIP

 

 

KEY RULES

 

  • There are no channel rules from authorities specifically for sponsorship of events/ field marketing by the Food and Soft Drinks sector
  • Infant formula advertising is permitted only in specialist press; any form of promotion is prohibited under Directive 2006/141/EC and the act on Nutrition and Food Safety (art. 25)
  • Marketing communications in promotional material (leaflets, brochures etc.) will be subject to the sector-specific content rules set out in section B, together with the general content rules, except those for broadcast media
  • The principal source of self-regulatory rules is the Code of Ethics in Advertising; see appendix 2 in particular. In legislation, the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)
  • The rules for this channel that apply to all product sectors, Food and Soft Drinks included, e.g. ICC Sponsorship rules, are set out under the General tab below

 

EU PLEDGE

 

  • The EU Pledge states that members agree not to engage in food or soft drink product marketing communications to children in primary schools. See point 11 of the implementation Guidance; commitments were enhanced in July 2021, effective January 2022 

 

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General

SECTION C: EVENTS/ SPONSORSHIP

 

 

Ambush marketing: the European summer of sport
Taylor Wessing May 16, 2024

GUIDE: The Olympic Games 2024 - Beating around le ambush

Lewis Silkin 25 January, 2024 (EN)

 

APPLICABLE REGULATION 

 

  • Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising: PO / EN; Sponsorship Chapter VI articles 40-44
  • Sponsorship material is within the scope of the RR Code linked above; material would therefore need to observe the full code, as well as the specifics in the sponsorship section set out below
  • The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends), which implements the UCP Directive 2005/29/EC applies to B2C practices (art. 2/4 for scope, which suggests that sponsorship material would be covered)
  • The Unfair Competition Act UCA PO / EN (note on translation here) protects businesses from acts of unfair competition (art. 3.1), implementing the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive 2006/114/EC. 'The act of unfair competition shall be the activity contrary to the law or good practices which threatens or infringes the interest of another entrepreneur or customer.' (Art. 3.1)
  • The ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN), foundation of self-regulation worldwide, carries a full Chapter B on event sponsorship

Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics Chapter VI Sponsorship

 

  • Sponsorship and sponsorship-related agreements must be performed in the manner which is easy to be read and understood by unrelated persons as to their nature, and in particular they should indicate all the interested parties and the content of their liabilities to the sponsor (Art. 40)
  • Information on sponsorship originating from the sponsor or the sponsored of the given event must be clearly formulated and cannot violate the prevailing standards of decency (Art. 41)
  • Sponsorship should never be operated in such a way as to endanger artistic or historical objects (Art. 42)
  • Sponsorship-related operations cannot be misleading as to the sponsored entity, brand or other identification of the sponsored, in particular where the sponsored event is presented on the radio or television (Art. 43)
  • The sponsored event cannot have a negative impact on natural environment. Therefore, any message coming from the sponsored person or the sponsor, and related to environmental protection should be truthful (Art. 44)

 

 

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International

SECTION C: EVENTS/ SPONSORSHIP

 

 

Pilot Project Relaxes Olympic Games' Rule For Participating Brands

Marks & Clerk July 19, 2024 

Paris Olympics & Paralympics - Part 2: What could possibly go wrong?

Squire Patton Boggs july 16, 2024

GUIDE: The Olympic Games 2024 - Beating around le ambush

Lewis Silkin 25 January, 2024

 

Self-regulation

 

  • Advertising associated with sponsorship activity is likely to be subject to content rules; these can be found in the earlier content section B, or from the ICC Code linked below 
  • ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN 2024): Chapter B Sponsorship. 2024 amends in italics 

 

B1: Principles governing sponsorship

 

  • All sponsorship should be based on contractual obligations between the sponsor and the sponsored party
  • Sponsors and sponsored parties should set out clear terms and conditions with all other partners involved, to define their expectations regarding all aspects of the sponsorship deal
  • Sponsorship should be recognisable as such
  • The terms and conduct of sponsorship should be based upon the principle of good faith between all parties to the sponsorship
  • There should be clarity regarding the specific rights being sold and confirmation that these are available for sponsorship from the rights holder. Sponsored parties should have the absolute right to decide on the value of the sponsorship rights that they are offering and the appropriateness of the sponsor with whom they contract
  • There should be clear communication about the specific rights available for sponsorship from the rights holder, including the timing of the sponsorship commitment and the scale of coverage, such as territory. Sponsored parties should retain the sole discretion to determine the value of the sponsorship rights they offer and the suitability of a potential sponsor
  • Furthermore, both parties should reserve the right to terminate the sponsorship agreement based on the terms outlined in the contract

 

B2: Autonomy and self-determination

 

  • Sponsorship should respect the autonomy and self-determination of the sponsored party in the management of its own activities and properties, provided as long as the sponsored party fulfills the obligations set out in the sponsorship agreement  meets the requirements set in the sponsorship agreement and those actions do not damage the reputation of the sponsor

 

B3: Imitation and confusion

 

  • Sponsors and sponsored parties, as well as other parties involved in a sponsorship, should avoid imitation of the representation of other sponsorships where such imitation might mislead or generate confusion, even if applied to non-competitive products, companies or events
  • Both sponsors and sponsored parties, along with anyone else involved, should avoid imitation of other sponsorships if it could mislead or cause confusion, even with non-competing products, businesses or events

 

 B4: 'Ambushing' of sponsored properties

 

  • No party should seek to give the impression that it is a sponsor of any event or of media coverage of an event, whether sponsored or not, if it is not in fact an official sponsor of the property or of media coverage
  • The sponsor and sponsored party should each take care to ensure that any actions taken by them to combat ‘ambush marketing’ are proportionate and that they do not damage the reputation of the sponsored property nor impact unduly on members of the general public
  • No party should falsely pretend, associate or mislead to be a sponsor of any event or media coverage of an event, whether sponsored or not, unless they are indeed an official sponsor
  • The sponsor and sponsored party should each make sure that any actions they take against ‘ambush marketing’ are proportionate and do not damage the reputation of the sponsored property, event or image, or unfairly affect the general public

 

B5: Respect for the sponsorship property and the sponsor

 

  • Sponsors should take particular care to safeguard the inherent protect the unique features including artistic, cultural, sporting or other content of the sponsorship propertyThey should avoid any abuse of their position that might damage the identity, dignity, or reputations of the sponsored party or the sponsorship property
  • The sponsored party should not obscure, deform or bring into disrepute the image or trade- marks of the sponsor, or jeopardise risk damaging the goodwill or public esteem associated with them

 

B6: The sponsorship audience

 

  • The audience should be clearly informed of the existence of a sponsorship with respect to a particular event, activity, programme including branded giveaways and similaor person and the sponsor’s own message should not be likely to cause offence. Due note should be taken of existing professional ethics of the sponsored party. Any posts on social media by the sponsored party should be transparent and properly identified. The sponsor should also be mindful of the professional values of the sponsored party and audience
  • This article is not, however, intended to discourage sponsorship of avant-garde or potentially controversial artistic/cultural activities, or to encourage sponsors to exercise censorship over a sponsored party’s message
  • Branded sponsorship or entertainment events that primarily target children or teens should comply with Chapter E – Children and Teens

 

B7: Data capture/ data sharing

 

  • If an individual’s personal data are used in connection with sponsorship, the provisions of article 19 22  are applicable

 

B8: Artistic and historical objects

 

  • Sponsorship should not be conducted in such a way as to endanger artistic or historical objects
  • Sponsorship should not put art or historical items at risk
  • Sponsorship that aims to safeguard, restore, or maintain cultural, artistic or historical properties or their diffusion, should respect the public interest related to them
  • Where a sponsorship is meant to protect, restore, or maintain cultural, artistic or historical properties or spread awareness about them, it should respect the public interest in them

 

B9: Social and environmental sponsorship

 

  • Both sponsors and sponsored parties should take into consideration the potential social or environmental impact of the sponsorship when planning, organising and carrying out the sponsorship
  • Any sponsorship message fully or partially based on a claim of positive (or reduced negative) social and/or environmental impact should be substantiated in terms of actual benefits to be obtained. Parties to the sponsorship should respect the principles set out in the ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development.
  • If a sponsorship message claims to have a positive social or environmental effect (or less harm), it should be backed up with evidence of actual benefits. Parties to the sponsorship should respect the principles set out in the ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development
  • Any environmental claim made with respect to the sponsorship should conform to the principles set out in Chapter D, Environmental Claims in Marketing communications
  • If the sponsorship makes any environmental claims, they should align with the rules in Chapter D and the ICC Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communication

 

B10: Charities and humanitarian sponsorship

 

  • Sponsorship of charities and other humanitarian causes should be undertaken with sensitivity and care, to ensure that the work of the sponsored party is not adversely affected

 

B11: Multiple sponsorship

 

  • Where an activity or event requires or allows several sponsors, the individual contracts and agreements should clearly set out the respective rights, limits and obligations of each sponsor, including, but not limited to, details of any exclusivity
  • In particular, each member of a group of sponsors should respect the defined sponsorship fields and the allotted communication tasks, avoiding any interference that might unfairly alter the balance between the contributions of the various sponsors conflict with another sponsor’s rights to the property
  • The sponsored party should inform any potential sponsor of all the sponsors already a party to the sponsorship. The sponsored party should not accept a new sponsor without first ensuring that it does not conflict with any rights of sponsors who are already contracted and, where appropriate, informing the existing sponsors

 

 

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11. Sales Promotion

Sector

SECTION C: SALES PROMOTIONS

 

 

CONTEXT

 

This website was created to provide international rules on marketing communications; it does not claim authority on specific Sales Promotions (SP) regulation, especially retail legislation. However, in the course of extensive research in marketing, relevant rules will be included. National self-regulatory codes and consumer protection legislation, for example, are checked for any provisions that affect SP and included below or under the General tab

 

KEY RULES

 

  • Sales promotional marketing material must observe the content rules for Food and Soft Drinks in Section B, together with the Content rules that apply to all product sectors which are found under the General tab in section B
  • The principal source of self-regulatory rules is the Code of Ethics in Advertising; see appendix 2 in particular. In legislation, the Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends)
  • Point-of-sale advertising, sampling or any other promotional device to induce sales of infant formula directly to the consumer at the retail level is prohibited (Directive 2006/141/EC, implemented under article 25 of the national Act on Food Safety and Nutrition) 
  • It’s forbidden to advertise in elementary schools as part of Rada Reklamy’s Standards of Food Advertising Aimed at Children Under 12 in Appendix 2 of their Code of Ethics in Advertising linked above (art. 4). Caveat follows:
  • Article 6 'Advertising within the meaning of Code is not using name, logo or product in educational campaigns, aimed at propagation of healthy dietary habits and physical activity amongst children and young people. Such campaigns have to be in line with national and/ or international dietary recommendations regarding diet and physical activity. If such campaigns are being carried out in schools, they have to be agreed with school authorities.'
  • Note that the Channel rules set out here are specific to the Food and Soft Drinks sector; the Channel rules that apply to all sectors, found under the General tab below, also apply. These include, for example, statutory requirements for pricing claims and conditions for competitions etc.

 

 

EU PLEDGE

 

 

  • Implementation guidance is here 

 

 

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General

SECTION C: SALES PROMOTIONS

 

 

Disclaimers in consumer promotions: How to avoid a fine from the regulator
Wardyński & Partners September 26, 2024

Permanent promotions mislead consumers, says Poland's consumer protection watchdog
Osborne Clarke/ Lex. April 4, 2023

 

CONTEXT

 

This website was created to provide international rules on marketing communications; it does not claim authority on specific Sales Promotions (SP) regulation, especially retail legislation. However, in the course of extensive research in marketing, relevant rules will be included. National self-regulatory codes and consumer protection legislation around pricing, for example, are checked for any provisions that affect SP and included below. Note that promotional schemes requiring a purchase to take part, and offering prizes only on the basis of random chance, are considered a lottery and are generally illegal. As promotional advertising might be more ‘aggressive’, we include the measures from legislation and self-regulation related to aggressive/ unfair advertising. Promotional activity can be fraught with regulatory issues; plans should be checked with specialist advisors

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION

 

  • Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising PO / EN Chapter VIII Sales Promotion (Arts 49-61)
  • SMB (Polish Direct Marketing Association) Code of Ethics PO / EN (s. 14) promotion and advertising, Chap. III Mail Order and Catalogue Selling

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION

 

  • The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN (inc. 2022 amends) applies B2C; covers forms of promotional marcoms under arts 7.19, 7.20, and 9.8. This law transposes the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC
  • The Unfair Competition Act UCA PO / EN (Art. 17a (1&2) UCA) similarly, the UCA addresses some promotional techniques under article 17a. This act transposes the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive 2006/114/EC
  • Act on the Provision of Services by Electronic Means PO / EN (Art. 9.2.2  promotional conditions in e-commerce context; see below)
  • The Gambling Act of 19 November 2009 PO / EN (key clauses only; unofficial translation) relevant to a prize draw/ promotional lottery where participation in the promotion is conditional on the purchase of goods, services or another game ticket

 

KEY CLAUSES SELF-REGULATION

 

Rada Reklamy Code Chapter VIII: Sales Promotions

 

  • 1. Sales promotions cannot be developed and conducted so as to mislead the recipients. 2. Neither the design nor the implementation of a promotion should be such as to provoke, or to appear to condone, aggressive or illegal behaviour, and cannot otherwise be inconsistent with the social coexistence principles. Moreover, they cannot encourage practices contrary to the public interest (Art. 49)
  • Sales promotions should be so framed as not to abuse the trust of the recipients and not to exploit their possible lack of experience or knowledge (Art. 50)
  • Sales promotions should be so devised as to make it easy for the beneficiary to identify clearly the terms of the offer. Care should be taken not to exaggerate the value of the additional benefit and the price of the main product should not be concealed by the promotional activity (Art. 51)
  • Sales promotions should be administered with adequate resources and supervision methods. In particular, the sales promoter should make sure that the availability of the additional benefits is adequate to allow demand to be honoured within a reasonable time. If delay is inevitable, the beneficiaries should be so advised, and if necessary actions should be undertaken which shall result in adjustment of the advertising concerning the offer (Art. 52)
  • 1. When organising sales promotions, the right of privacy of each entity should be respected. No additional liabilities not arising from the sales promotions rules can be imposed on such entities 2. If as a result of the sales promotion organised personal data of natural persons are collected, then the beneficiary should be clearly informed thereof, with indication of the scope of processing of such data. The collection, storage, and use of data must be compliant with the Personal Data Protection Act (Art. 53)
  • Sales promotions should be designed and conducted with proper regard to appropriate standards of safety to the extent necessary for protection of the beneficiaries participating in such promotions against health damage (Art. 54)
  • The presentation of sales promotions should allow participants, before making any required purchase, to be informed of the rules of such promotion if they can affect their decision to purchase the relevant product. In particular, the presentation should include, where applicable: a) clear instructions on the method of making use of, or obtaining, the promotional offer, e.g. conditions for obtaining free gifts or premiums; b) general characteristics of the additional benefits offered; c) time limitations for using the promotional offer; d) any limitation as to the geographical area, age, quantity (number) of promoted items or other additional benefits available, or any other limitations on quantity. e) the value of any voucher or stamp offered where a monetary alternative is available; f) expenditure involved, including costs of shipping, handling and the terms of payment; g) the full name and address of the promoter and an address to which complaints can be directed if different from the address of the promoter (Art. 55)
  • 1. Where the sales promotion includes a competition, in addition to the information required by Article 55 above, the following information should be given or at least be made available on request and unconditional on purchase of the main product, prior to participation: a) rules governing eligibility to participate in the competition; b) all costs associated with participation known to the promoter, and where applicable also information on the rates used (e.g. for special calls); c) number, value and nature of prizes to be awarded and whether a cash alternative may be substituted for a prize; d) in the case of a skill contest, the nature of the contest and the criteria for judging the entries; e) method of selecting the winners and the prize; f) closing date of the competition; g) when and how the results will be announced; h) whether the beneficiary may be liable to pay tax as a result of winning a prize; i) time period during which prizes may be collected; j) how the jury is selected; k) the composition of the jury, on announcement of the results at the latest; l) any intention to use winners or winning contribution in post-event activities. 2. If the sales promotion includes a lottery, the provisions of paragraph 1 above shall be applicable to the lottery, respectively, where applicable (Art. 56) 
  • 1. The promoter should always obtain the prior agreement of the operator if the promoter inter alia intends to: a) invite the employees of the operator to assist in any sales promotion; b) propose (offer) to such employees any benefits of value or obtaining any benefits of value for such employees’ assistance or for any sales achievements in connection with any sales promotion. 2. If the offer referred to in paragraph 1 above is addressed to a wide circle of recipients it must contain clear instruction that employees must obtain their employer’s permission before they accept such offer (Art. 57)
  • Sales promotions which require active co-operation by the operator and its employees cannot adversely affect the performance of any existing contractual obligations of such operator (Art. 58)
  • Sales promotions which have been accepted by the operator should be fairly and honestly handled, and properly administered by the operator (operator’s employees) (Art. 59)
  • 1. Sales promotions involving any specific responsibility on the part of the intermediary should be so handled by him/her that no misinterpretation is likely to arise in particular as to the terms, value, limitations or availability of the offer subject to the sales promotion. 2. In particular, the operator should adhere to the plan and conditions of the promotion as laid down by the promoter. No changes of the agreed arrangements, e.g. alteration to the time-limit, should be made by the operator without the prior agreement of the promoter (Art. 60)
  • 1. Sales promotions containing comparisons should be so designed that the comparison is not likely to mislead, and should comply with other principles of fair competition. 2. Points of comparison should be based on verifiable facts and should not be unfairly selected. Article Art 11 of the Code shall be applicable per analogy (Art. 61)

 

 

SMB Polish Marketing Association Code of Ethics
(some translation enhanced)

 

Section 14 Promotion and Advertising, in context of mail order and catalogue selling

 

  1. Trader’s (i.e. businesses/ companies), which as part of a promotional offer, carry out bonus sales (contests, draws/ lotteries etc.) undertake to observe all legal regulations governing this type of activity. It is the trader’s responsibility to set out clearly and precisely all the terms and conditions upon which the sales are carried out (14.1)
  2. If the sending of the reply is tied to participation in a contest, the offer should specify the exact deadline/ cut-off date for sending replies, which will enable participation in the contest (14.2)
  3. The deadline for sending applications should be set at least one month from the date of sending the offer (14.3)
  4.  Each ticket in a lottery must have an equal chance of winning (14.4)
  5. Winners must receive the prize within six weeks of the end of the promotion unless they have been informed in advance about another date. Companies should strive to ensure that the prize or the information about the prize is sent within three weeks of the contest or lottery closing date (14.5)
  6. All restrictions on the availability of the prizes should be truthful and justified (14.6)
  7. Traders undertake not to use the type of promotion referred to as “Everybody wins/ Win-Win/ Everybody is a winner” ("Wygrywa każdy"). This slogan is understood to mean any free lotteries or prize draws in which the consumer is informed about the supposedly random drawing of the prize (14.7)
  8. The determining factor is chance/ luck. Where the trader has decided to give away the same or similar goods to all or most of the consumers, it is prohibited to use such terms as “prize” (nagroda), “you have won” (wygrałeśś), “you have most likely won” (najprawdopodobniej wygrałeś), or “see if you have won” (sprawdź, czy wygrałeś) and others. Such given goods shall be referred to as “gifts for everybody” (prezentami dla każdego), and not “prizes” (nagrodami) (14.8)

 

 

KEY CLAUSES LEGISLATION

 

The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices PO / EN 

 

Aggressive commercial practices which are unfair in all circumstances:

 

  • Creating the impression that the consumer has already won, will win unconditionally, or will win on taking a particular course of action, a prize or other equivalent benefit, when in fact claiming the prize or other equivalent benefit is subject to the consumer paying money or incurring other costs (Art. 9.8)

 

Misleading commercial practices which are unfair in all circumstances:

 

  • Claiming in a commercial practice to offer a competition or prize promotion without awarding the prizes described or a reasonable equivalent (Art. 7.19 UCPA)
  • Presenting a product as ‘gratis’ (gratis), ‘free’ (darmowy), ‘without charge’ (bezpłatny) or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding to the commercial practice and collecting or paying for delivery of the item (Art. 7.20 UCPA)

 

Act on the Provision of Services by Electronic Means PO / EN (Art. 9.2.2)

 

  • (Electronic) commercial communications must include: a clear description of the form of promotional activities, in particular price reductions (discounts), free benefits in cash or in kind and other benefits related to the promoted goods, service or image, as well as the clear identification of the conditions necessary to take advantage of these benefits, if they are a component of the offer

 

The Unfair Competition Act UCA PO / EN translation note here

 

  • The following is an act of unfair competition: the sale to consumers of goods or services with the award to all or some purchasers of the products or services with a free bonus in the form of products or services different from those representing the subject of the sale, notwithstanding the point below (Art. 17a.1)
  • The above-mentioned sale is not an act of unfair competition if the bonuses are goods or services (Art. 17a.2(1-2):
     
  • of low value or a sample of the product
  • won in promotional lotteries organised under the rules on gambling or contests/ competitions the result of which does not depend on chance 

 

Gambling Act

 

The Gambling Act of 19 November 2009 PO: relevant to a prize draw (promotional lottery) where participation in the promotion is conditional on the purchase of goods, services or another game ticket. Note: If the purchasing of goods, services or another game ticket is optional (i.e. participation in the promotion is not conditional on the purchase of goods, services or another game ticket), the game should be generally treated as a prize promotion, not as a lottery. Scope: The Gambling Act applies to gambling games (gry hazardowe) which includes 3 main categories (games of chance, betting, slot machines). Promotional lotteries come under the games of chance category

 

 

Definitions and conditions

 

  • Games of chance: "games for cash or in-kind prizes, the result of which depends in particular on chance, and the rules of which are specified in the terms and conditions of a given game” (Art. 2.1 Gambling Act)
  • Games of chance includes: Promotional lotteries, where participation in a free-of-charge lottery occurs by purchasing a product, a service or other game ticket and the entity organising the game/ lottery offers cash or in-kind/ material prizes (Art. 2.1.10 Gambling Act) 
  • Organising promotional lotteries requires a prior permit (Art. 7.1 GA); online promotional lotteries are now permitted, following amendment to the act (Art. 5 (1b) GA): Art. 7.1 Gambling Act: promotional lotteries can be organised by natural persons, legal entities and non-legal entities under the permit granted
  • Gambling on the Internet, with the exception of pool betting and promotional lotteries, is governed by the state monopoly. Up until amendment to the Gambling Act via Act of 15 December 2016 (via Art. 1 (5)), online betting was the only form of online gambling permitted in Poland

 

 

 

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International

SECTION C: SALES PROMOTIONS

 

 

CONTEXT

 

This website was created to provide international rules on marketing communications; it does not claim authority on specific Sales Promotions (SP) regulation, especially retail legislation. However, in the course of extensive research in marketing, relevant rules will be included. National self-regulatory codes and consumer protection legislation, for example, are checked for any provisions that affect SP and included below. Content in SP material is likely to be subject to the rules set out in the earlier section B as well as more specific requirements related to pricing, promotional conditions etc. .

 

APPLICABLE SELF-REGULATION AND LEGISLATION 

 

ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (EN 2024), Chapter A Sales Promotion, Chapter C Direct Marketing

For promotions and contests on social media, refer to Own Websites channel; SNS

Directive 2005/29/EC on Unfair Commercial Practices (UCPD)

Directive 98/6/EC on the Prices of Products offered to Consumers

 

SELF-REGULATORY CLAUSES 

 

ICC Code Chapter A Sales Promotion 

Clauses are from the 2024 edition of the Code 

 

A1: Principles governing sales promotions

 

  • All sales promotions should interact with consumers in a fair, transparent, respectful and honourable way while upholding the Code’s data protection and privacy principles
  • The design and implementation of sales promotions should align with the consumers’ reasonable expectations as set by the promotion
  • The administration of sales promotions and the fulfilment of any obligation arising from them should be prompt and efficient and consistent with the presentation of the promotion
  • The terms and conduct of all sales promotions should be transparent to all participants
  • All sales promotions should be framed in a way which is fair to competitors and others in the market
  • Sales promotions that primarily target children or teens should comply with Chapter E – children and teens
  • No promoters, intermediaries or others involved should do anything likely to bring sales promotions into disrepute

 

A2: Transparency and terms of the offer

 

Sales promotions should be transparent. This means that the terms of the offer should be easily identifiable, accessible and straightforward for the consumer, inclusive of any restrictions and limitations. Measures should be taken to avoid exaggerating the value of any promotional item or obscuring or minimising the price of the main product.

 

A3: Presentation

 

Sales promotions should not be designed or presented in a manner that is likely to be misleading about value, nature or participation process.

 

A4: Administration of promotions

 

Sales promotions should be administered using appropriate resources and supervision and should incorporate proper safeguards to ensure that the offer’s administration aligns with the reasonable expectations of consumers. In particular:

  • Promotional items should be sufficient to meet anticipated demand consistent with the terms of the offer. If delay or any other change is unavoidable, consumers should be advised promptly, and necessary steps taken to adjust the promotion of the offer
  • Promoters should be able to demonstrate that they have made a reasonable estimate of the expected response before the event. Phrases like “subject to availability” and similar may be used when demand is significantly difficult to calculate, but not as a general means to relieve the promoter from the obligation to meet consumers’ legitimate expectations
  • When the acquisition of the promotional item is dependent on a purchase or multiple purchases, promoters should ensure promotional items are sufficiently available to match the number of purchases being made, also see Article A6 under Information requirements
  • Defective goods or inadequate services should be replaced, or appropriate financial compensation given. Any proven expenses reasonably incurred by consumers directly due to such deficiencies, should be refunded upon request as soon as possible
  • Complaints should be efficiently and properly handled

 

A5: Safety and suitability

 

  • Care should be taken to prevent promotional items, if used correctly, from exposing consumers, intermediaries, or any other persons or their property to any harm or danger
  • Where appropriate promotional items should be accompanied by any necessary warnings and safety advice. Promoters should ensure that their promotional activities are consistent with the principles of environmental and social responsibility and in particular take reasonable steps to prevent unsuitable, inappropriate or age-restricted materials from reaching children.

 

A6: Presentation to consumers

 

  • Complex rules should be avoided. Rules should be drawn up in language that consumers can easily understand. The chances of winning prizes should not be overstated
  • Where consumers are prompted to engage with content by clicking on a link, or using a similar mechanism, like voice or movement activation, it should be made clear beforehand what the outcome will be, e.g. by specifying the form and nature of the offer. Deceptive practices like “click to reveal code” only to present an offer, should not be used

 

 

Information requirements

 

Sales promotions should be presented so that consumers are informed beforehand of any conditions likely to influence their decision to purchase. Consumers should be able to easily access the terms and other essential information, in particular when accepting the offer. Information should include, where relevant and having regard to the medium used:

 

  • detailed and clear instructions on how to obtain or participate in the promotional offer, including the conditions for receiving promotional items, liability for associated costs, or taking part in prize promotions
  • the main characteristics of the promotional items being offered
  • any time limit on taking advantage of the promotional offer
  • any restrictions on participation (e.g. geographical, employment in a particular company, sector or activity or age-related), availability of promotional items, or stock limitations. In the case of limited availability, e.g. due to unexpectedly high demand or any other exceptional circumstance, the consumer should be informed about alternative arrangements or refunding policies
  • the value of any financial substitutes offered like vouchers, coupons, discount codes or stamps offered where a monetary alternative is available
  • any requirements such as automatic renewals or subscriptions
  • any use of data and privacy clauses
  • any costs involved, including shipping and handling fees taxes, tariffs or duties and payment terms
  • The promotor’s full name and address along with information on how to ask questions or lodge complaints.

Promotions claiming to support a charitable cause should not exaggerate the contribution derived from the campaign. Consumers should be informed, before purchasing the promoted product, how much of the price will be allocated for the cause or the total donation amount.
 

Free entry claims should be used only if the consumer’s path to access is charged at a standard rate, meaning the consumer will not incur any communication cost beyond the maximum of that rate. If a premium rate is applied, this should be clearly disclosed. 

 

Information in prize promotions

 

Where a sales promotion includes a prize promotion, the following information should be given to consumers, and be available prior to participation and not conditional on purchasing the main product:

 

  • an overview of the entry process
  • any rules governing eligibility to participate in the prize promotion, as well as any use of data and privacy implications
  • costs associated with participation, excluding communication costs at or below standard rate (mail, telephone and other devices)
  • restrictions or limitations on the number of entries
  • The number, value and nature of prizes to be awarded. If a cash alternative is available instead of a prize, that should be communicated
  • for skills contests, the nature of the contest and the criteria for judging the entries
  • the procedure for selecting winners and awarding prizes
  • the starting and closing dates of the competition
  • the timeline and procedure for notifying winners and publicising results
  • where appropriate, information that prizes may be subject to tax
  • the procedure and time frame for collecting prizes
  • where a jury is involved, the composition of the jury, or the criteria for selecting its members
  • if winners’ images, quotes, audiovisual content or winning contributions will be used in post-event activities and the terms for their use

 

The remaining articles of this chapter, A7 to A10 inclusive, are not included for reasons of space. They can be found in the 2024 ICC Code here. These cover:

 

A7. Presentation to Intermediaries

A8. Particular Obligations of Promoters

A9. Particular Obligations of Intermediaries

A10. Responsibility

 

LEGISLATIVE CLAUSES

 

As promotional activity will often include e.g. special pricing measures, we have extracted from the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC those clauses from Annex I (practices which are in all circumstances considered unfair) most relevant to promotional scenarios

 

5. Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price without disclosing the existence of any reasonable grounds the trader may have for believing that he will not be able to offer for supply or to procure another trader to supply, those products or equivalent products at that price for a period that is, and in quantities that are, reasonable having regard to the product, the scale of advertising of the product and the price offered (bait advertising)

6. Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price and then:
 

(a) refusing to show the advertised item to consumers; or

(b) refusing to take orders for it or deliver it within a reasonable time or

(c) demonstrating a defective sample of it, with the intention of promoting a different product (bait and switch)

 

7. Falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time, or that it will only be available on particular terms for a very limited time, in order to elicit an immediate decision and deprive consumers of sufficient opportunity or time to make an informed choice

15. Claiming that the trader is about to cease trading or move premises when he is not

16. Claiming that products are able to facilitate winning in games of chance

19. Claiming in a commercial practice to offer a competition or prize promotion without awarding the prizes described or a reasonable equivalent

20. Describing a product as ‘gratis’, ‘free’, ‘without charge’ or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding to the commercial practice and collecting or paying for delivery of the item

31. Creating the false impression that the consumer has already won, will win, or will on doing a particular act win, a prize or other equivalent benefit, when in fact either:

 

there is no prize or other equivalent benefit, or

taking any action in relation to claiming the prize or other equivalent benefit is subject to the consumer paying money or incurring a cost

 

 

Directive 98/6/EC on the Prices of Products offered to Consumers (PPD)

 

Article 1

 

The purpose of this Directive is to stipulate indication of the selling price and the price per unit of measurement of products offered by traders to consumers in order to improve consumer information and to facilitate comparison of prices

 

Article 2

 

For the purposes of this Directive:

 

(a) selling price shall mean the final price for a unit of the product, or a given quantity of the product, including VAT and all other taxes;

(b) unit price shall mean the final price, including VAT and all other taxes, for one kilogramme, one litre, one metre, one square metre or one cubic metre of the product or a different single unit of quantity which is widely and customarily used in the Member State concerned in the marketing of specific products

(c) products sold in bulk shall mean products which are not pre-packaged and are measured in the presence of the consumer

(d) trader shall mean any natural or legal person who sells or offers for sale products which fall within his commercial or professional activity

(e) consumer shall mean any natural person who buys a product for purposes that do not fall within the sphere of his commercial or professional activity

 

 

Article 3

 

  1. The selling price and the unit price shall be indicated for all products referred to in Article 1, the indication of the unit price being subject to the provisions of Article 5. The unit price need not be indicated if it is identical to the sales price
  2. Member States may decide not to apply paragraph 1 to:

 

— products supplied in the course of the provision of a service

— sales by auction and sales of works of art and antiques

 

  1. For products sold in bulk, only the unit price must be indicated
  2. Any advertisement which mentions the selling price of products referred to in Article 1 shall also indicate the unit price subject to Article 5

 

Article 4

 

  1. The selling price and the unit price must be unambiguous, easily identifiable and clearly legible. Member States may provide that the maximum number of prices to be indicated be limited
  2. The unit price shall refer to a quantity declared in accordance with national and Community provisions

 

Where national or Community provisions require the indication of the net weight and the net drained weight for certain pre-packed products, it shall be sufficient to indicate the unit price of the net drained weight

 

Article 5

 

  1. Member States may waive the obligation to indicate the unit price of products for which such indication would not be useful because of the products' nature or purpose or would be liable to create confusion
  2. With a view to implementing paragraph 1, Member States may, in the case of non-food products, establish a list of the products or product categories to which the obligation to indicate the unit price shall remain applicable

Article 6a

 

1.   Any announcement of a price reduction shall indicate the prior price applied by the trader for a determined period of time prior to the application of the price reduction
2.   The prior price means the lowest price applied by the trader during a period of time not shorter than 30 days prior to the application of the price reduction
3.   Member States may provide for different rules for goods which are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly
4.   Where the product has been on the market for less than 30 days, Member States may also provide for a shorter period of time than the period specified in paragraph 2
5.   Member States may provide that, when the price reduction is progressively increased, the prior price is the price without the price reduction before the first application of the price reduction

 

 

 

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D. Advice & Clearance

General

SECTION D SRO SERVICES

 

 

ADVICE

 

Związek Stowarzyszeń Rada Reklamy, known as Rada Reklamy, translated as the Advertising Council, is the Self-Regulatory Organisation in Poland, founded in 2006. Rada Reklamy handles complaints from both consumers and competitors via its Complaints Jury or Advertising Standards/ Ethics Committee (Komisja Etyki Reklamy). Further information is available via its website http://www.radareklamy.pl/

 

Rada Reklamy offers copy advice, usually within three working days. This service is provided free of charge for members for 5 opinions annually then charges of PLN 1,000 and 1,500 net for standard and express respectively, while non-members pay a standard opinion within 5 business days PLN 2,500 net; express opinion within 48 hours PLN 4,500 net. Rada Reklamy does not pre-clear advertising.

 

CLEARANCE

 

Direct to broadcaster

Allow 3-5 days TV/VOD

For help contact the Traffic Bureau administration@trafficbureau.net

 

 

International

SECTION D: SRO SERVICES

 

The ICAS Global SRO database

https://icas.global/srodatabase/

 

EASA (European Advertising Standards Alliance)

https://www.easa-alliance.org/

 

EASA membership

https://www.easa-alliance.org/members/

 

Link to Best Practice Recommendations

https://www.easa-alliance.org/publication/best-practice-recommendations/

 

EASA Digital Marketing Communications Best Practice Recommendation 

https://www.easa-alliance.org/publications/easa-best-practice-recommendations-digital-marketing-communications/

 

EASA Best Practice Recommendation on Online Behavioural Advertising

https://www.easa-alliance.org/publications/easa-best-practice-recommendation-on-oba-2021/

 

EASA Best Practice Recommendation on Influencer Marketing

https://www.easa-alliance.org/publications/best-practice-recommendation-on-influencer-marketing-guidance_v2023/

 

 

 

 

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E. Links

Sector

SECTION E SOURCES/ LINKS

 

 

LEGISLATION


European Food Legislation
See: https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/labelling_nutrition_en

 

Nutrition and Health Claims

 

Regulation No. 1924/2006. Without prejudice to DirectivesEU 2000/13/EC and 84/450/EEC, the use of nutrition and health claims shall not: (a) be false, ambiguous or misleading; (b) give rise to doubt about the safety and/ or the nutritional adequacy of other foods; (c) encourage or condone excess consumption of a food; (d) state, suggest or imply that a balanced and varied diet cannot provide appropriate quantities of nutrients in general. (e) refer to changes in bodily functions which could give rise to or exploit fear in the consumer, either textually or through pictorial, graphic or symbolic representations. The preceding clauses are extracts from general requirements. The annex to the Regulation contains the nutritional claims and the conditions under which they can be made for individual products. More information on the Regulation is here, and it is found in full from the link below: 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32006R1924

 

Health Claims

 

Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 of 16 May 2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods, other than those referring to the reduction of disease risk and to children’s development and health. This Regulation carries an updated annexe with the complete list of approved health (as opposed to nutrition) claims and their conditions of use:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32012R0432

 

EU Register of nutrition and health claims made on foods; the EU Register is for information only, showing:

 

  • Permitted nutrition claims and their conditions of use
  • Authorised health claims, their conditions of use and applicable restrictions, if any
  • Non-authorised health claims and the reasons for their non-authorisation
  • EU legal acts for the specific health claims
  • National measures mentioned in Art. 23 (3) of Regulation EC 1924/2006 

https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/labelling_nutrition/claims/register/public/?event=search

 

Food Information

 

Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 of The European Parliament and of the Council of 25th October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. While this Regulation is largely to do with labelling, it also incorporates a number of broad requirements for advertising in artticle 7, largely to do with misleadingness on: 1. a) the characteristics of the food and, in particular, as to its nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, durability, country of origin or place of provenance, method of manufacture or production; (b) by attributing to the food effects or properties which it does not possess; (c) by suggesting that the food possesses special characteristics when in fact all similar foods possess such characteristics, in particular by specifically emphasising the presence or absence of certain ingredients and/or nutrients; (d) by suggesting, by means of the appearance, the description or pictorial representations, the presence of a particular food or an ingredient, while in reality a component naturally present or an ingredient normally used in that food has been substituted with a different component or a different ingredient. 2. Food information shall be accurate, clear and easy to understand for the consumer. 3.   Subject to derogations provided for by Union law applicable to natural mineral waters and foods for particular nutritional uses, food information shall not attribute to any food the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, nor refer to such properties.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32011R1169&from=EN

 

Food supplements

 

Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10th June 2002 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements. The Food Supplements Directive (FSD) defines these foods as concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, alone or in combination, whose purpose is to supplement the normal diet. They are marketed in dose form, i.e., as pills, tablets, capsules, sachets, and liquids, among others (Art. 2 FSD). They are also defined as 'foodstuffs', so regulated as foods within the meaning of Article 2 Regulation 178/2002 (General Food Regulation), which will apply along with Claims Regulation 1924/2006. The Directive encompasses all Food Supplements; however, only the rules applicable to the use of vitamins and minerals in their manufacture are set down in the text; the use of natural ingredients in food supplements, fibre and various plants and herbal extracts, are not covered, so will remain subject to national laws. In terms of provisions for marcoms, articles 6 and 7 respectively require that labelling, presentation and advertising must not attribute to food supplements the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, or refer to such properties, and must not include any mention stating or implying that a balanced and varied diet cannot provide appropriate quantities of nutrients in general. 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32002L0046

 

General food

 

Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety. Article 16 Presentation: Without prejudice to more specific provisions of food law, the labelling, advertising and presentation of food or feed, including their shape, appearance or packaging, the packaging materials used, the manner in which they are arranged and the setting in which they are displayed, and the information which is made available about them through whatever medium, shall not mislead consumers:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32002R0178

 

The addition of vitamins and minerals

 

Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 of The European Parliament and of The Council of 20 December 2006 (as amended) on the addition of vitamins and minerals and of certain other substances to foods. See article 7 on labelling, presentation and advertising.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02006R1925-20190515

 

 

Regulation (EU) 609/2013 on food for specific groups (FSG)

 

Regulation 609/2013 is intended to simplify and and harmonise the rules governing the compositional and information requirements of four categories of food intended for 'vulnerable' groups of people. These food groups were formerly classified as 'Foodstuffs intended for particular nutritional uses' (so-called 'Parnuts') and regulated under 'Framework' Directive 2009/39/EC, and a series of more specific Directives. The four groups and their specific Directives are: 

 

Infant formulae and follow-on formulae: Directive 2006/141/EC 
 Processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children: Directive 2006/125/EC
 Dietary foods for special medical purposes: Directive 1999/21/EC
 Foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction: Directive 96/8/EC

 

From 20 July 2016, the FSG Regulation repealed and replaced the Framework Directive, abolishing the concept of foods for particular nutritional use. Replacing the Directives above are 'delegated acts', which provide specific compositional and information requirements for each of the food categories. Until the dates of application of these delegated acts (see below), the criteria set out in the Directives above will continue to apply. The FSG Regulation also excludes some food groups, originally qualified as 'Parnuts', from its scope on the basis that they can be regulated under the EU framework applicable to 'normal' food. The foods concerned are here.

 

Advertising

  • Advertising of foods for specific groups shall provide information for the appropriate use of such food, and shall not mislead, or attribute to such food the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, or imply such properties (Art. 9 (5) FSG Reg). Article 10 contains advertising requirements for infant formulae and follow-on formulae; see below
  • Specific advertising rules from Delegated Acts adopted by the EU Commission under Art. 11(1) FSG:

 

  • For Foods for infants and young children: infant formulae and follow-on formulae: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/127; see Arts 6.6, 8, 9, 10 for advertising related provisions extracted here. Notably, the FSG Regulation extends the existing restriction (see Art. 13(5) Dir. 2006/141/EC below) on the use of pictures or text which may idealise the use of formulae to the labelling of follow-on formulae (previously only applicable to infant formulae), and prohibits nutrition and health claims for infant formula. Adopted on 25 September 2015 and applicable as of 22 February 2020, or 22 February 2021 for protein hydrolysate based formulae. Until the application dates, the requirements established in Directive 2006/141/EC will remain in force; see later entry
  • For food for special medical purposes (FSMP): Delegated Regulation 2016/128; Article 7 prohibits the use of nutrition and health claims for FSMP. It was adopted on 25 September 2015 and applied from 22 February 2019
  • FoFoods intended for total diet replacement for weight control: Delegated Regulation 2017/1798 applies from October 2022. Regulation 609/2013 covers claims for this product group under article 9 and Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods also applies (see s. 12 (b) and Art. 13 (1c)). Until the introduction of the Delegated act, the rules of Directive 96/8/EC remain applicable
  • For Foods for infants and young children: processed cereal-based foods and other baby foods: Delegated Act still awaited. Until its finalisation, the rules of Directive ​2006/125/EC remain applicable (no provisions specific to advertising; the directive includes labelling requirements)

 

The Regulation 609/2013 is here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32013R0609

 

 

infant formulae and follow-on formulae

See also entry under Regulation 609/2013 above

 

Commission Directive 2006/141/EC of 22 December 2006 on infant formulae and follow-on formulae. Applicable until 22 February 2020; for formulae manufactured from protein hydrolysates, until 22 February 2021. Lays down the compositional and information requirements of infant formulae and follow-on formulae, adopted under Framework Directive 2009/39/EC. Article 13 (clauses abbreviated): advertising of infant formulae and follow-on formulae should provide necessary information about the appropriate use of the products so as not to discourage breast feeding. The use of the terms ‘humanised’, ‘maternalised’, ‘adapted’, or similar terms is prohibited; advertising of infant formulae must include, preceded by the words ‘Important Notice’ or their equivalent: (a) a statement concerning the superiority of breast feeding (b) a statement recommending that the product be used only on the advice of independent persons having qualifications in medicine, nutrition or pharmacy, or other professionals; advertising of infant formulae shall not include pictures of infants, nor other pictures or text which may idealise the use of the product. It may, however, have graphic representations for easy identification of the product and methods of preparation (Art. 13.5); advertising of infant formulae may include nutrition and health claims only in the cases and conditions set out in Annex IV; Infant formulae and follow-on formulae shall be advertised so that it enables consumers to make a clear distinction between the products. Under Article 14, advertising of infant formulae is restricted to publications specialising in baby care and scientific publications, is subject to the conditions laid down in Article 13, and may contain only information of a scientific and factual nature. Point-of-sale advertising, sampling or any other promotional device to induce sales of infant formula directly to the consumer at the retail level is prohibited.The Directive is here:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32006L0141

 

 

Foods intended for energy-restricted diets for weight reduction

See also entry under Regulation 609/2013 above

 

Directive 96/8/EC of 26 February 1996 on foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction. Adopted under the old legislative framework of Directive 2009/39/EC, the Directive lays down compositional and labelling requirements for foods intended to be used in energy restricted diets for weight reduction. These foods are divided into two categories: total diet replacement products for weight control (between 3,360 kJ (800 kcal) and 5,040 kJ (1,200 kcal)) and meal replacement products for weight control (between 840 kJ (200 kcal) and 1,680 kJ (400 kcal)). The labelling, advertising and presentation of the products concerned shall not make any reference to the rate or amount of weight loss which may result from their use (Art. 5 (3)). This restriction is repeated in Art. 12 (b) of the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation 1924/2006/EC. Under Recitals 1- 5, Directive 2007/29/EC, which amended Directive 96/8/EC, Regulation 1924/2006/EC will apply to foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction.  For such foods, it is permitted to make health claims describing or referring to slimming or weight-control or a reduction in the sense of hunger or an increase in the sense of satiety or to the reduction of the available energy from the diet, provided the claims comply with the conditions laid down in Article 13 (1) of Regulation 1924/2006/EC. For meal replacement products for weight control, Directive 96/8/EC has not applied since 20 July 2016; these products are now regulated by the EU food framework applicable to 'normal' food, such as the Fortified Foods Regulation and Regulation 1924/2006 on Nutrition and Health Claims; see Art. 20.3 FSG Reg. Directive 96/8/EC is here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A31996L0008

 

 

 

National food legislation

 

Act on Food Safety and Nutrition of 25th August 2006 (as amended)This act is the vehicle for transposition of a number of EU Directives such as that for Food Supplements 2002/46/EC which forbids in marcoms any statement that suggests that a balanced and varied diet cannot provide appropriate quantities of nutrients (article 27/ 5 of the national law), and Directive 2006/141/EC of 22 December 2006 on infant formulae and follow-on formulae (article 25). The Act permits that infant formulae is provided free of charge or at a reduced price to institutions whose statutory objectives include helping children or the family. The Act also recognises Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. Polish text:

https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=wdu20061711225

 

Consumer protection legislation - all sectors

 

The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices (Ustawa o przeciwdziałaniu nieuczciwym praktykom rynkowym) of 23 August 2007. ‘Unfair Commercial Practices Act’. This Act, which implemented Directive 2005/29/EC, deals with B2C unfairness. It is based on a general clause, which in Article 4.1 prohibits unfair commercial practices that are contrary to good customs/ practice (dobrymi obyczajami) and which materially distort or are likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer before, during or after a transaction. This general clause is followed by specific provisions on misleading actions and omissions - Articles 5 and 6 - and aggressive practices (Article 8). Article 7 prohibits 23 misleading market practices that are unfair in all circumstances. Article 9 blacklists eight aggressive market practices. The information obligations under Art. 6.4 UCPA when a price is mentioned in advertising/ the advertising constitutes an ‘invitation to purchase’, are also relevant. The Law on Counteracting Unfair Market Practices was amended by the Act of December 1, 2022 amending the Act on consumer rights and certain other acts (PO) and effective January 1, 2023. This act transposed into the UCPA's articles 5, 6 and 7 requirements of Directive 2019/2161 relating to search rankings, consumer reviews and the 'internationalisation' of campaigns. There's a helpful December 2022 piece from Taylor Wessing on the implementation in English and Polish here. Consolidated text pdf:

isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20071711206/U/D20071206Lj.pdf (PO)

Unofficial EN translation inc. 2022 amends http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POUCPAkeylauses2022ENb.pdf

 

 

Channel legislation - all sectors

 

Broadcasting Act of 29 December 1992; entry into force 01/03/1993. Implements the provisions of the Audio Visual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EU andregulates the whole broadcasting sector in Poland, incorporates VOD, and determines the responsibilities and competences of the Regulatory Authority (the National Broadcasting Council KRRiT), programming obligations, and commercial communications. Article 16a prohibits advertising in children’s programmes; 16b (2) bans communications that: 1) directly exhort minors to purchase products or services, 2) encourage minors to exert pressure upon their parents or other persons to persuade them to purchase the products or services being advertised, 3) exploit the trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons, 4) unreasonably show minors in dangerous situations. Article 16b (3.4) prohibits commercial communications that ‘prejudice the physical, mental or moral development of minors.’ And clause 3a of the same article states: ‘Children’s programmes shall not be accompanied by commercial communications for foods or beverages containing ingredients, excessive intakes of which in the everyday diet are not recommended.’ Article 17a prohibits product placement in children’s programmes. Polish text:

https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=wdu19930070034

In English unofficial translation from National Broadcasting Council; does not include amends from below:

http://www.archiwum.krrit.gov.pl/Data/Files/_public/Portals/0/angielska/Documents/Regulations/ustawa-o-radiofonii-i-telewizji-2016-eng_en.pdf

GRS unofficial translation of key provisions; does not include amends from below:

http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POBroadcastingActWRversionb.pdf

 

Amend to the Broadcasting Act of 11th August 2021 transposing Directive 2018/1808. This Directive essentially extends AVMSD scope online and to video-sharing platforms especially. The commercial content rules from the Directive do not change significantly (it is primarily scope that is extended), albeit more generally there are new pressures on self-regulatory systems; key changes to content rules in the Directive are shown here - see article 4a and 9 for references to self-regulation in food and in alcohol. Chapter 6b of the national act covers video-sharing platforms. Helpful summary: New regulations on video-sharing platforms and other media service providers from Hogan Lovells. The Act entered into force November 1, 2021, with the exception of Art. 1 points 10, 31, point 32 in the scope of article 47g and point 33 lit. b, article 2 and article 4, which entered into force on 1 January 2022.

https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20210001676 (PO)

 

TV Broadcasters’ agreement (Entry into force 01/01/2015). 'Television broadcasters’ agreement on the rules for the dissemination of advertising and sponsorship regarding foods or beverages containing ingredients whose presence in excessive amounts in a daily diet is not recommended'. Since 1 January 2015, broadcasters have pledged not to accompany programmes for children aged up to 12 with food and soft drink commercials that do not meet 'Nutritional Criteria to the self-regulation on food advertising aimed at children under 12 years'. The document also sets out prohibited product categories. Signatory broadcasters require advertisers to submit a statement on the compliance of the advertised product with the Nutrition Criteria. English version: 

http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/PO_TVbroadcastersAgreement_Food_Drink_EN.pd

 

 

SELF-REGULATION

 

Industry codes 

 

Advertising Code of Ethics; Rada Reklamy (Advertising Council). The Union of Associations Advertising Council is the Self-Regulatory Organisation in Poland, founded in 2006. RR handles complaints from both consumers and competitors via its Complaints Jury or Advertising Standards / Ethics Committee (Komisja Etyki Reklamy). Further information is available from its website: 

https://radareklamy.pl/

and here In English: 

https://radareklamy.pl/en/home-en/

 

The Code of Ethics in Advertising ‘ensures that advertising is not misleading, and protects against unethical and unfair advertising’. Based on the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code, it applies to all forms of marketing communications, except ‘social’ (non-profit) and political advertising. Polish text: 

https://radareklamy.pl/kodeks-etyki/

English version:  
https://radareklamy.pl/en/code-of-ethics-in-advertising/

 

The Polish pledge is not available specifically (or rather it can’t be located on the PFPZ website), but comprises Appendix 2 and 2a in the Code of Ethics in Advertising linked above. Appendix 2 includes the Food Advertising Standards for Children under 12, whilst Appendix 2a comprises nutritional criteria for self-regulation on advertising food to children under the age of 12

 

ICC

 

The ICC Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Communication is here (EN): 

https://iccwbo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/08/icc-framework-for-responsible-food-and-beverage-marketing-communications-2019.pdf

 

 

Associations/ regulatory authorities 

 

The Polish Federation of Food Industry (PFPZ):

 http://www.pfpz.pl/index/?lang_id=2
'The Polish Federation of Food Industry Union of Employers (PFFI UE) was established to secure effective participation of business entities in laying down legal, organisational and economic conditions for the development of the food sector, one of the largest and most powerful branches of the Polish economy. The members of PFFI UE include the leading companies and organisations of the Food market in Poland. The PFFI UE drafted the "Nutritional criteria for self-regulation regarding food advertising directed to children under 12 years of age" of December 2013, which has been incorporated into Appendix 2a of the Rada Reklamy Code of Ethics in Advertising. The PFFI UE was also involved with the Television broadcasters’ agreement on the rules for the dissemination of advertising and sponsorship regarding 'foods or beverages containing ingredients whose presence in excessive amounts in a daily diet is not recommended'; agreement entered into force 01/01/2015.

 

Institute of Food and Nutrition (Instytut Żywności I Żywienia) 

http://www.izz.waw.pl/en/

 

 

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

 

EU PLEDGE

 

 

The EU Pledge, enhanced July 2021 effective January 2022, is a voluntary initiative by leading Food and Beverage companies, accounting for over 80% of food and soft drink advertising expenditure in the EU, to change food and soft drink advertising to children under the age of thirteen in the European Union. It consists of three main commitments:

 

 

The EU Pledge Implementation guidance, in detail and by medium, is here. The Pledge is consistent with the International Food & Beverage Alliance (IFBA)’s 2021 Global Responsible Marketing policy.

 

UNESDA

 

Soft Drink Trade Association For Europe: http://www.unesda.eu/

Unesda’s commitments include

  • No advertising to children under 12 in print, cinema or broadcast
  • No online advertising to U12s including social media and company-owned websites
  • Responsible behaviour in schools, including no sales in primary schools

 

FOODDRINKEUROPE

 

From their website: “FoodDrinkEurope's mission is to facilitate the development of an environment in which all European food and drink companies, whatever their size, can meet the needs of consumers and society, while competing effectively for sustainable growth.

FoodDrinkEurope’s contribution is based on sound scientific research, robust data management and effective communication, working within the regulatory framework to ensure that all food and drink issues are dealt with in a holistic manner. The organisation promotes its members’ interests in areas such as food safety and sciencenutrition and health, consumer trust and choice, competitiveness, and environmental sustainability.

This is their Guidance on the Provision of Food Information to Consumers: 

http://www.fooddrinkeurope.eu/uploads/publications_documents/FDE_Guidance_WEB.pdf

Here are their company members: 

http://www.fooddrinkeurope.eu/about-us/members/ - tab3

 

 

SEE THE GENERAL TAB BELOW FOR THE LEGISLATION AND CODES THAT AFFECT ALL PRODUCT SECTORS, FOOD AND SOFT DRINKS INCLUDED

 

 

 

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Read more

General

SECTION E SOURCES/ LINKS

 

 

LEGISLATION

 

European legislation

 

GDPR

 

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of The European Parliament and of The Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation). The GDPR came into force May 25 2018.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj

 

The GDPR is accompanied by Directive 2016/680, which is largely concerned with supervising procedures, and which should have been transposed into member states’ legislation by 6th May 2018.

 

European Data Protection Authority

Article 29 Working Party/ EDPB





The Article 29 Working Party was established under article 29 (hence the name) of Directive 95/46/EC, the Personal Data Protection Directive. The arrival of the GDPR heralded the demise/ re-working of A29WP, and its replacement by the European Data Protection Board:

https://edpb.europa.eu/.

 

All documents from the former Article 29 Working Party remain available on this newsroom

Article 29 Working Party archives from 1997 to November 2016: 

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/article-29/documentation/index_en.htm.

Five more recent, significant documents:

 

 

 

Commercial practices: UCPD


Directive 2005/29/EC of The European Parliament and of The Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 (the ‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’ UCPD). This is the legislation that most impacts marketing and advertising in Europe and whose origins form the foundations of Self-Regulatory regimes. The core provisions relate to unfair commercial practices, defined as ‘likely to materially distort the economic behaviour with regard to the product of the average consumer.’ In turn, unfair commercial practices are those that:

 

  1. are misleading (misleading actions or misleading by omission) as set out in Articles 6 and 7, or
  2. are aggressive as set out in Articles 8 and 9: ‘use of harassment, coercion and undue influence.’ This clause more often relates to ‘active conduct’.

 

Annex I (known as ‘the blacklist’) contains the list of those commercial practices which ‘shall in all circumstances be regarded as unfair’. These are the only commercial practices which can be deemed to be unfair without a case-by-case test (i.e. assessing the likely impact of the practice on the average consumer's economic behaviour). The list includes e.g. encouragement to children to ‘pester’ (28), clear identification of commercial source in advertorial (11) and making ‘persistent and unwanted solicitations’ (26). The UCPD includes several provisions on promotional practices e.g. Article 6 (d) on the existence of a specific price advantage, Annex I point 5 on bait advertising, point 7 on special offers, points 19 and 31 on competitions and prize promotion, and point 20 on free offers. Some amendments to Directive 2005/29/EC are provided in Directive 2019/2161 linked below; these are supposed to be transposed by November 2021 and in force in member states by May 2022.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2005/29/oj

Guidance: On 17 December 2021, the European Commission adopted a new Commission Notice on the interpretation and application of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (‘the UCPD Guidance’). This document is the definitive guidance across a number of commercial practices/ claim areas covered by the UCPD.

 

The Omnibus Directive 

 

Directive (EU) 2019/2161 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directives 98/6/EC, 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the better enforcement and modernisation of Union consumer protection rules. This directive, which 'aims to strengthen consumer rights through enhanced enforcement measures and increased transparency requirements', sets out some new information requirements related to search rankings and consumer reviews under the UCPD 2005/29/EC and pricing information under Directive 2011/83/EU in the context of automated decision-making and profiling of consumer behaviour, and price reduction information under the Product Pricing Directive 98/6/EC. More directly related to this database, and potentially significant for multinational advertisers, is the clause that amends article 6 (misleading actions) of the UCPD adding ‘(c) any marketing of a good, in one Member State, as being identical to a good marketed in other Member States, while that good has significantly different composition or characteristics, unless justified by legitimate and objective factors’. Recitals related to this clause, which provide some context, are here. Helpful explanatory piece on the Omnibus Directive 2019/2161 from A&L Goodbody via Lexology here. Provisions are supposed to be transposed by November 2021 and in force in member states by May 2022. 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/2161/oj

Pricing

 

Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers. The purpose of this Directive is to stipulate indication of the selling price and the price per unit of measurement of products offered by traders to consumers in order to improve consumer information and to facilitate comparison of prices (Article 1). For the purposes of this Directive, selling price shall mean the final price for a unit of the product, or a given quantity of the product, including VAT and all other taxes (Article 2a). While this legislation seems prima facie most suited to ‘goods on shelves’ as it requires unit prices (the final price, including VAT and all other taxes, for one kilogramme, one litre, one metre, one square metre or one cubic metre of the product), the Directive was used as the basis for a significant ECJ judgement  on car pricing in advertising. Some amendments to Directive 98/6/EC related to price reduction information are provided in Directive 2019/2161 linked above; these are supposed to be transposed by November 2021 and in force in member states by May 28, 2022. The article concerned, 6a, is extracted here. Commission guidance on its application is below this entry.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/2161/oj

 

Commission notice: Guidance on the interpretation and application of Article 6a of Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52021XC1229(06)&from=EN

 

Comparative advertising

 

Directive 2006/114/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 concerning misleading and comparative advertising. Article 4 of the MCAD provides that comparative advertising is permitted when eight conditions are met. The most significant of those for our purposes are a) it is not misleading within the meaning of Articles 2 (b), 3 and 8 (1) of this Directive or articles 6 and 7 of Directive 2005/29/EC (see above) and b) it compares goods or services meeting the same needs or intended for the same purpose. There are other significant conditions related to denigration of trademarks and designation of origin, imitation and the creation of confusion. Codified version:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32006L0114

 

Audiovisual media

 

Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services: the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, or AVMSD. This is the codified version of the much-amended Directive 89/552/EEC and represents the core European broadcast legislation, providing significant structural and content rules, applied largely consistently across member states.  From a marcoms perspective, the core articles are 9 (Discrimination, safety, the environment, minors and some prohibitions), 10 (Sponsorship), 11 (Product Placement) and 22 (Alcoholic beverages rules).

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32010L0013

 

AVMSD amendment

 

Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 amending Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive) in view of changing market realities. The background to this significant development of the AVMSD is here. In broad terms, the Directive addresses the changes in media consumption in recent years and pays particular attention to the protection of minors in that context, extending rules to e.g. shared content on SNS. There are ‘strengthened provisions to protect children from inappropriate audiovisual commercial communications for foods high in fat, salt and sodium and sugars, including by encouraging codes of conduct at EU level, where necessary’. See article 4a. Rules for alcoholic beverages are extended to on-demand audiovisual media services, but those provisions (social/ sexual success etc.) are not amended.

Article 28b addresses video- sharing platform providers (VSPS), containing requirements to prevent violent, criminal, or otherwise offensive material and bringing the 'general' AV commercial communication rules such as those for the environment, human dignity, discrimination, minors etc. into these platforms. VSPS must also provide a functionality for users who upload user-generated videos to declare whether they contain commercial communications as far as they know or can be reasonably expected to know; VSPS must accordingly inform users. There has been some debate as to whether vloggers/ influencers are in scope, i.e. they or their output constitute an audiovisual media service. Definitive opinion/ recommendation is from the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) paper 'Analysis and recommendations concerning the regulation of vloggers.' The annex of the paper contains national examples. The Directive entered into force 18th December 2018; member states are required to have transposed into national law by 19th September 2020. 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/1808/oj

 

e-Privacy

 

Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications, the ‘E-privacy Directive’). This Directive ‘provides for the harmonisation of the national provisions required to ensure an equivalent level of protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, and in particular the right to privacy and confidentiality, with respect to the processing of personal data in the electronic communication sector.’ The directive was amended by Directive 2009/136/EC; the ‘Cookie directive’, provisions found under article 5.3 of the E-Privacy Directive. Article 13 for Consent and ‘soft opt-in’ requirements

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2002/58

 

The ‘Cookie Directive’ 2009/136/EC amending Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector. Article 2 provides amends to the E-privacy Directive above

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32009L0136

 

e-Privacy Regulation draft (10 February 2021)

 

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications and repealing Directive 2002/58/EC (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications):

https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-6087-2021-INIT/en/pdf

Statement on the e-Privacy Regulation and the future role of Supervisory Authorities and the EDPB. Adopted on 19 November 2020:
https://edpb.europa.eu/sites/default/files/files/file1/edpb_statement_20201119_eprivacy_regulation_en.pdf

February 2022 Clifford Chance/ Lex E-Privacy check-in: where we are, and where we're headed
March 2022 Härting Rechtsanwälte/ Lex ePrivacy Regulation: EU Council agrees on the draft

 

e-Commerce

 

Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market ('Directive on electronic commerce')‘information society services’ are defined as ‘any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient of services.’ Article 5 covers general information such as contact details from the ‘service provider’, which information should be made easily, directly and permanently accessible to the recipients of the service’. The Directive also sets out under article 6 more specific information requirements for commercial communications which are part of, or constitute, an information society service. These include identifiability requirements and accessibility to conditions for promotions.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32000L0031

 

The Digital Services Act

 

Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act). European Commission pages on the DSA are here. Wikipedia entry is here. Helpful legal commentary, which also addresses the Digital Markets Act, is from DLA Piper/ Lex February 2023: Online advertising: A regulatory patchwork under construction. Key marcoms issues for advertisers/ platforms are the identification of advertising material and parameters used for its targeting and the prohibition of advertising based on profiling that uses using special data categories such as religious belief, health data sexual orientation etc. (art.26), or if the platform has reason to believe the recipient is a minor (art. 28). The Regulation applies from February 2024. 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32022R2065

 

The Digital Markets Act

 

Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and amending Directives (EU) 2019/1937 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Digital Markets Act). European Commission pages are here; from those: 'Some large online platforms act as "gatekeepers" in digital markets. The Digital Markets Act aims to ensure that these platforms behave in a fair way online. Together with the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act is one of the centrepieces of the European digital strategy.' Wikipedia entry is here.  Article 2a prohibits the processing, for the purpose of providing online advertising services, personal data of end users using services of third parties that make use of core platform services of the gatekeeper, unless the end user has been presented with the specific choice and has given consent within the meaning of Article 4, point (11), and Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. The Regulation entered into force on 1st November 2022 and applied on 2nd May, 2023. Gatekeepers will be identified and they will have to comply by 6th March 2024 at the latest.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/1925

 

 

National legislation 

 

Unfair competition (B2B primarily)

 

Act on Combating Unfair Competition (Ustawa o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji) of 16 April 1993. ‘Unfair Competition Act’. The Act is based on a general clause in Article 3 (1), according to which an act of unfair competition means any act contrary to the law or good practice, which impairs or infringes the interests of another trader or of the customers. The general clause is followed by prohibitions on acts of unfair competition, e.g. false or misleading designation of an undertaking or products (Articles 5–10), unfair advertising (Article 16). This Act incorporated the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive 2006/114/EC MACAD:

https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=wdu19930470211 (PO)

https://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POActCombatingUnfairComp1993EN.pdf (EN)

Translation note here.

 

Unfair commercial practices

 

The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices (Ustawa o przeciwdziałaniu nieuczciwym praktykom rynkowym) of 23 August 2007. ‘Unfair Commercial Practices Act’. This Act, which implemented Directive 2005/29/EC, deals with B2C unfairness. It is based on a general clause, which in Article 4.1 prohibits unfair commercial practices that are contrary to good customs/ practice (dobrymi obyczajami) and which materially distort or are likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer before, during or after a transaction. This general clause is followed by specific provisions on misleading actions and omissions - Articles 5 and 6 - and aggressive practices (Article 8). Article 7 prohibits 23 misleading market practices that are unfair in all circumstances. Article 9 blacklists eight aggressive market practices. The information obligations under Art. 6.4 UCPA when a price is mentioned in advertising/ the advertising constitutes an ‘invitation to purchase’, are also relevant. The Law on Counteracting Unfair Commercial Practices was amended by the Act of December 1, 2022 amending the Act on consumer rights and certain other acts (PO) and effective January 1, 2023. This act transposed into the UCPA's articles 5, 6 and 7 requirements of Directive 2019/2161 relating to search rankings, consumer reviews and the 'internationalisation' of campaigns. There's a helpful December 2022 piece from Taylor Wessing on the implementation in English and Polish here. Consolidated text pdf:

isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20071711206/U/D20071206Lj.pdf (PO)

Unofficial EN translation inc. 2022 amends http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POUCPAkeylauses2022ENb.pdf

 

Regulatory authority

 

UOKIK, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. From their website: 'The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is a central authority of the state administration. They report directly to the Prime Minister, who appoints them from amongst the persons selected by way of an open and competitive contest. The President of the Office is responsible for shaping the antitrust policy and consumer protection policy.' In September 2022, UOKIK announced new 'Recommendations pertaining to the tagging of advertising content by Influencers on social media.' General website/ about us in English:

https://uokik.gov.pl/about_the_occp.php

Influencer Recommendations September 2022:

http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POUOKIKInfluencerRecsSept2022EN.pdf

 

 

Channel legislation

 

Broadcast / AV

 

Broadcasting Act of 29 December 1992 (Ustawa z dnia 29 grudnia 1992 r. o radiofonii i telewizji) (Journal of Laws 1993, no 7, item 34). Entry into force 01/03/1993. This Broadcasting Act, as amended, implemented the provisions of the Audio Visual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EU. The most recent amendment added provisions concerning on-demand services, marking the final step in the transposition of the AVMS Directive. The Act regulates the whole broadcasting sector in Poland and includes regulations on public service broadcasting and commercial broadcasting. It regulates commercial communications (in particular advertising, sponsorship, teleshopping and product placement, as per Art. 4 (16) Broadcasting Act) on TV, Radio, and VOD. The Regulatory authority is the National Broadcasting Council KRRiT (see below):

https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=wdu19930070034 (PO)

GRS translation of key provisions pre amends below:

http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POBroadcastingActWRversionb.pdf

 

Amend to the Broadcasting Act of 11th August 2021 transposing Directive 2018/1808. This Directive essentially extends AVMSD scope online and to video-sharing platforms especially. The commercial content rules from the Directive do not change significantly (it is primarily scope that is extended), albeit more generally there are new pressures on self-regulatory systems; key changes to content rules in the Directive are shown here - see article 4a and 9 for references to self-regulation in food and in alcohol. Chapter 6b of the national act covers video-sharing platforms. Helpful summary: New regulations on video-sharing platforms and other media service providers from Hogan Lovells. The Act entered into force November 1, 2021, with the exception of Art. 1 points 10, 31, point 32 in the scope of article 47g and point 33 lit. b, article 2 and article 4, which entered into force on 1 January 2022.

https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20210001676 (PO)

 

Regulatory authority

 

National Broadcasting Council (Krajowa Rada Radiofonii I Telewizji KRRiT). KRRiT regulates the content of public and commercial broadcasting related to protection of minors, harmful content, advertising restrictions, etc. 

Regulation of the National Broadcasting Council of 30 June 2011 on principles of advertising and teleshopping in radio and television programme services (ref. art. 16 (7) Broadcasting Act):

http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20111500895 (PO)

Regulation of the National Broadcasting Council of 30 June 2011 on conditions of product placement (ref. Art. 17(9) Broadcasting Act):

http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20111610977 (PO)

Regulation of the National Broadcasting Council of 27 July 2011 amending the Regulation concerning sponsorship of programmes and other broadcasts (ref. art 17(8) Broadcasting Act):

http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20000650785 (PO)

 

Privacy/ cookies

 

Telecommunications Act 16 July 2004 (as amended) (OJ 2004 No. 171, item. 1800) Entry into force 03/09/2004. This Act specifies conditions for the protection of services users, in particular with regard to privacy and confidentiality and conditions for data processing. The act implemented the ‘Telecommunications Package’, which includes the E-Privacy Directive 2002/58/EC. Cookies are regulated within this Act (Art. 173); an amendment in 2012 implemented the provisions of the Cookie Directive Article 2 (5) 2009/136/EC. Article 172 allows telephone, fax and automated calling systems to be used for the purposes of direct marketing only after obtaining the end user’s prior consent:

https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=wdu20041711800 (PO)

Unofficial English translation:

http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POTelecomsAct.pdf (EN)

 

Regulatory authorities

 

UODO Urzędu Ochrony Danych Osobowych, Office for the Protection of Personal data:

www.uodo.gov.pl/pl/p/o-nas

 

Office of Electronic Communications.  Non-compliance with the rules on storing and accessing cookies, as well failing to obtain consent prior to carrying out direct marketing by telephone, fax or automated calling systems may result in a fine imposed by the President of UKE for anyone who does not fulfil the obligations to obtain consent as laid out in Articles 172-174 of the Telecommunications Act (Art 209 (1) (25 TA:

www.uke.gov.pl/

 

Data protection

 

The Personal Data Protection Act (DPA) of 10 May 2018. The purpose of this Act is to ensure the application of the Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. The Act also implements the Directive (EU) 2016/680 and establishes the Office for the Protection of Personal Data. See entry under Regulatory authorities earlier in this section. The DPA In Polish:

https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20180001000

Unofficial translation:

http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POPersonalDataProtection2018.pdf

 

e-Commerce

 

Act of 18th July 2002 on the Provision of Services by Electronic Means. Law Gazette/ Dz. U of 9th Sept 2002, No. 144, item 1204. Came into force 10/03/2003 (Ustawa z dnia 18 lipca 2002 r. o świadczeniu usług drogą elektroniczną). This Act is the principal legal influence in the field of business operation via the Internet, setting out the obligations of a service provider in relation to the provision of electronic services (Chapter 2; Articles 5-11). It implements elements of the e-Commerce 2000/31/EC and e-Privacy 2002/58/EC Directives, and establishes an opt-in regime for marketing by electronic media, including email and SMS, with no provision for soft-opt in:

https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=wdu20021441204 (PO)

Non-binding unofficial GRS translation of key provisions:

https://www.g-regs.com/downloads/POActProvisionElectronicServices.pdf

 

Pricing 

 

The Law of 9th May 2014 on Information on Prices of Goods and Services; this is the legislation that transposed the Product Price Directive 98/6/EC, which was amended by the Omnibus Directive 2019/2161 to introduce new promotional pricing rules. Transposition effective January 1, 2023 happened via the Act of December 1, 2022 amending the Act on consumer rights and certain other acts. Article 4 is replaced by new provisions which reflect the directive's requirements to list the lowest price that was applied during the 30-day period before a reduction was introduced, in addition to the new price;

isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20140000915 (PO)

 

 

SELF-REGULATION

 

Advertising Code of Ethics (Kodeks Etyki Reklamy) June 25th, 2019; Rada Reklamy. The Code of Ethics in Advertising is based on the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code and applies to all forms of marcoms, except social and political advertising. The code includes rules on environmental claims in advertising, and covers the direct marketing, sales promotions and sponsorship channels. In September 2019 the Children’s Protection Charter was established and  is set out under appendix 3 of the code. Rada Reklamy handles complaints from consumers, competitors and other interested parties via its Advertising Ethics Committee Komisja Etyki Reklamy (KER). All adjudications are published on their website. Polish:

https://radareklamy.pl/kodeks-etyki/

Rada Reklamy English translation:

https://radareklamy.pl/en/code-of-ethics-in-advertising/

 

SMB

 

The Code of Conduct from the Polish Direct Marketing Association SMB. The SMB also manage the Robinson List. Polish:
https://smb.pl/news/projekt_kodo

 

Robinson List 

 

Also known as the Telephone Preference Service or Mailing Preference Service (MPS); maintained by Polskie Stowarzyszenie Marketing SMB, the Polish Direct Marketing Association. Those who not want to receive marcoms by voice phone, SMS, email and postal mail can register their contact details on the database and will not receive unsolicited marcoms from SMB member companies; compliance with Robinson List rules is a condition of membership (s.1(2) SMB Code). Robinson List website:

http://www.listarobinsonow.pl/

Regulations for consumers:

https://listarobinsonow.pl/page/regulaminy

 

Code of Good Practice in Mobile Advertising PO / EN

 

Mobile operators Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Polkomtel, Orange and P4 in conjunction with IAB Poland publish good practices for mobile marketing. Mobile advertising is via Push ads (SMS/ MMS/ wap-push) and Pull ads – where the ad is displayed after a specific action by the user – e.g. entrance to a WAP site, sending SMS notifications 

 

 

IAB Poland/ Europe

 

Interactive Advertising Bureau Poland: Polish industry organisation that ‘unites and represents entities of the interactive industry. IAB Poland members include more than 200 companies, including the biggest web portals, global media groups, interactive agencies, media houses and technology providers.’

https://iab.org.pl/

IAB Poland publish the Guide to Influencer Marketing and Collection of Good Practices

https://www.iab.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/INFLUENCER-MARKETING_poradnik-IAB-Polska-2021.pdf (PO)

 

How to comply with EU rules applicable to online native advertising

https://iabeurope.eu/all-news/how-to-comply-with-eu-rules-applicable-to-online-native-advertising/

IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework: 
https://iabeurope.eu/transparency-consent-framework/

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL CODES AND GUIDANCE

 

ICC

 

ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code 2018:

https://iccwbo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/09/icc-advertising-and-marketing-communications-code-int.pdf (EN)

ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code 2024:

https://iccwbo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/ICC_2024_MarketingCode_2024.pdf (EN)

Environmental claims (Chapter D of the above 2018 code)
http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/ICCChapterDEnvironmentalClaims2018.pdf

The ICC Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications 2021: 

http://www.g-regs.com/downloads/iccenvironmentalframework_2021.pdf

The ICC’s Guidance on Native Advertising Is here:

https://iccwbo.org/news-publications/policies-reports/icc-guidance-on-native-advertising/ (EN)

 

EASA

 

The European Advertising Standards Alliance is a non-profit based in Brussels; EASA brings together national advertising Self-Regulatory Organisations (SROs, such as Rada Reklamy) and other organisations representing the advertising industry in Europe and beyond. EASA is "the European voice for advertising self-regulation". The following link provides access to alliance membership:

http://www.easa-alliance.org/members

 

EASA’s Best Practice recommendations 

 

Digital Marketing Communications (2023)

Online Behavioural Advertising (2021)

Influencer Marketing (2023)

 

WFA

World Federation of Advertisers

 

From their website: 'WFA is the only global organisation representing the common interests of marketers. It brings together the biggest markets and marketers worldwide, representing roughly 90% of all the global marketing communications spend, almost US$ 900 billion annually. WFA champions responsible and effective marketing communications':

https://www.wfanet.org/

This is their ‘GDPR Guide for Marketers’:

http://info.wfa.be/WFA-GDPR-guide-for-marketers.pdf

The WFA launched their Planet Pledge in April 2021

And Global Guidance on Environmental Claims April 2022

 

FEDMA

 

Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing. FEDMA is the principal source of knowledge of the DM channel across Europe:

http://www.fedma.org/index.php?id=30

 

ESA

 

The European Sponsorship Association can be found at:

www.sponsorship.org

 

 

 

......................................................................
Read more

International

SECTION E SOURCES/ LINKS

 

 

SELF-REGULATION 
 

ICC

 

ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code 2024. In September 2024, the International Chamber of Commerce introduced the newly revised Advertising and Marketing Communications Code (the Code). From the website:  '11th Code revision – significant changes: The rapid evolution of technology and technologically enhanced marketing communications and techniques means that producing responsible marketing communications that are trusted in a digital world has continued to be important for companies in preserving their ‘license to operate’. For this reason, the 11th revision addresses both the Code’s usability and its applicability to technology enhanced marketing communications and techniques. It sets a gold standard for modern rule-making in our digital world by addressing the role of people, organisations, software and machines. Significant changes include:

 

  • greater clarity in the scope and application to different forms of marketing communications
  • the inclusion of coverage for the use of algorithms and AI in preparing and delivering marketing communications
  • taking account of recent social and technological developments and the inclusion of specific provisions from chapters which are widely applicable to all marketing communications
  • encouraging mindfulness regarding diversity and avoiding objectification stereotypes
  • new provisions concerning anti-corruption and not inciting or condoning hate speech and disinformation
  • improved indications regarding claims (including aspirational claims) and substantiation
  • addressing influencer marketing and the responsibility of influencers and creators
  • updated provisions regarding environmental advertising and environmental aspects of sustainability
  • clearer rules in a separate chapter regarding children, teens and minors

 

This Code revision has been informed by the latest industry rules and legal developments around the world, such as in the area of consumer protection, privacy and fair competition. The Code is designed to establish a sound ethical framework to govern marketing practices worldwide based on twin goals of fostering consumer fairness and trust, and the freedom of commercial communications.' The Code is organised into General Provisions and individual chapters Sales Promotion (A), Sponsorship (B), Direct Marketing and Digital Marketing Communications (C), Environmental Claims in Marketing Communication (D) and Children and Teens (E). Translation of the code is under way as at September 2024. Earlier translations of the former (2018) code can be found here.

https://iccwbo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/ICC_2024_MarketingCode_2024.pdf (EN)

 

 

Additional guides and frameworks (all EN)


ICC Guide for Responsible Mobile Marketing Communications

Mobile supplement to the ICC Resource Guide for Self-Regulation of Interest Based Advertising

ICC Framework for Responsible Marketing Communications of Alcohol

ICC Resource Guide for Self-Regulation of Online Behavioural Advertising

ICC Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications

ICC Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communication

ICC Guidance on Native Advertising 

 

ICC toolkits

 

 

IAB Europe

 

IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Europe: Its mission is to 'protect, prove, promote and professionalise' Europe's online advertising, media, research and analytics industries. Together with its members, companies and national trade associations, IAB Europe represents over 5,500 organisations with national membership including 27 National IABs and partner associations in Europe. 

http://www.iabeurope.eu/

'The Gold Standard is open to all IAB UK members who buy and sell digital media. It improves the digital advertising experience, helps compliance with the GDPR and ePrivacy law, tackles ad fraud and upholds brand safety':

https://www.iabuk.com/goldstandard

February 2022. EU Regulators Rule Ad Tech Industry's TCF Framework Violates GDPR from GALA/ Mondaq. From that: 'The Belgian Data Protection Authority (DPA) has ruled that the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) adopted by Europe's ad tech industry violates the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Further story here

IAB Europe published in May 2020 the Guide to the Post Third-Party Cookie Era and in July 2021 the Guide to Contextual Advertising 

IAB Europe's December 2021 Guide to Native Advertising provides 'up-to-date insight into native ad formats and key considerations and best practices for buyers.' 

 

 

ICAS

 

From their website: 'The International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (ICAS) is a global platform which promotes effective advertising self-regulation. ICAS members include Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs) and other national, regional and international bodies working to ensure that advertising and marketing communications are legal, honest, truthful and decent.' In December 2021, ICAS published the fourth edition of its Global SRO Database and Factbook

https://icas.global/about/

 

EASA: European Advertising Standards Alliance

 
'EASA has a network of 40 organisations representing 27 advertising standards bodies (also called self-regulatory organisations) from Europe and 13 organisations representing the advertising ecosystem (the advertisers, agencies and the media). EASA's role is to set out high operational standards for advertising self-regulatory systems, as set out in the Best Practice Model and EASA's Charter. EASA also provides a space for the advertising ecosystem to work together at European and international level to address common challenges and make sure advertising standards are futureproof.' EASA’s membership consists of 38 SROs from Europe and beyond, and 16 advertising industry associations, including advertisers, agencies and the media. 

http://www.easa-alliance.org/

 

Best Practice Recommendation on Digital Marketing Communications (updated 2023): EASA revised its Best Practice Recommendation (BPR) on Digital Marketing Communications in 2023 to ensure advertising standards remain effective and relevant when it comes to 'the ever-changing digital landscape and interactive marketing techniques'. Emphasis is placed on the need for all marketing communications to be easily identifiable for consumers, no matter where or how they are displayed: 

https://www.easa-alliance.org/publications/easa-best-practice-recommendations-digital-marketing-communications/

 

EASA Best Practice Recommendation on OBA (Revised Oct. 2021): provides for a pan-european, industry-wide self-regulatory standard for online behavioural advertising. The Mobile Addendum in 2016 extended the types of data relevant to OBA Self-Regulation, to include cross-application data, location data, and personal device data. The BPR incorporates (in sections 2 and 3) and complements IAB Europe’s self-regulatory Framework for OBA:

https://www.easa-alliance.org/publications/easa-best-practice-recommendation-on-oba-2021/

 

EASA Best Practice Recommendation on Influencer Marketing 2023. From the document: The EASA Best Practice Recommendation on Influencer Marketing aims to look at the key elements of influencer marketing techniques and assist SROs in creating their own national guidance by showcasing already existing national guidance on this topic across the SR networks and elaborating the different elements a guidance should address and define. EASA recognises that, subject to local parameters SROs may vary in their national practices and choose to go beyond what is suggested in this document or design and implement alternative strategies and guidelines to ensure that influencer marketing abides by the national advertising codes and is honest, decent and truthful and can be thus trusted by consumers.

https://www.easa-alliance.org/publications/best-practice-recommendation-on-influencer-marketing-guidance_v2023/

 

The European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA)

 

The EDAA has been established by a cross-industry coalition of European-level associations  with an interest in delivering a responsible European Self-Regulatory Programme for OBA in the form of pan-European standards  The EDAA essentially administers this programme; their principal purpose is to licence the OBA Icon to companies. It is also responsible for integrating businesses on the Consumer Choice platform - www.youronlinechoices.eu and ensuring credible compliance and enforcement procedures are in place through EDAA-approved Certification Providers who deliver a ‘Trust Seal’. It also coordinates closely with EASA and national SRO’s for consumer complaint handling

 

 

FEDMA

 

FEDMA (Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing) is a Brussels-based, pan-European association representing twenty-one national DMA’s and corporate members 
https://www.fedma.org/

 

 

THE EU PLEDGE 

 

The EU Pledge, enhanced July 2021 effective January 2022, is a voluntary initiative by leading Food and Beverage companies, accounting for over 80% of food and soft drink advertising expenditure in the EU, to change food and soft drink advertising to children under the age of thirteen in the European Union. It consists of three main commitments:

 

 

The EU Pledge Implementation guidance, in detail and by medium, is here. The Pledge is consistent with the International Food & Beverage Alliance (IFBA)’s 2021 Global Responsible Marketing policy

 

WFA

https://wfanet.org/about-wfa/who-we-are

 

‘WFA is the only global organisation representing the common interests of marketers. It is the voice of marketers worldwide, representing 90% of global marketing communications spend – roughly US$900 billion per annum. WFA champions more effective and sustainable marketing communications.’

 

Planet Pledge is a CMO-led framework designed to galvanise action from marketers within our membership to promote and reinforce attitudes and behaviours which will help the world meet the challenges laid out in the UN SDGs (Sustainable development goals).

https://wfanet.org/leadership/planet-pledge

 

The Responsible Marketing Pact (RMP) aims to reduce minors’ exposure to alcohol marketing, limit the appeal of alcohol marketing to minors, and strive to ensure minors’ social media experience is free from alcohol ads.

 

 

EUROPEAN LEGISLATION

 

Channel Regulations and Directives 

 

Regulation 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on May 25 2018, and is accompanied by Directive 2016/680, which is largely concerned with supervising procedures, and which should have been transposed into member states’ legislation by 6th May 2018

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj 

 

Article 29 Working Party/ EDPB

 

The Article 29 Working Party was established under article 29 (hence the name) of Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (Personal Data Protection Directive). It has an advisory status and acts independently of the European Commission. The arrival of the GDPR heralded the demise/re-working of A29WP, and its replacement by the European Data Protection Board: 

https://edpb.europa.eu/.

 

All documents from the former Article 29 Working Party remain available on this newsroom

Article 29 Working Party archives from 1997 to November 2016:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/article-29/documentation/index_en.htm.

More recent documents:

 

 

 

Key Directives in marketing communications

 

Privacy/ cookies

 

Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications, the ‘e-Privacy Directive’). This Directive ‘provides for the harmonisation of the national provisions required to ensure an equivalent level of protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, and in particular the right to privacy and confidentiality, with respect to the processing of personal data in the electronic communication sector.’ The directive was amended by Directive 2009/136/EC; the ‘Cookie directive’, provisions found under article 5.3 of the E-Privacy Directive. Article 13 for Consent and ‘soft opt-in’ requirements

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2002/58

 

The ‘Cookie Directive’ 2009/136/EC amending Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32009L0136

 

e-Privacy Regulation draft (10 February 2021)

 

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications and repealing Directive 2002/58/EC (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications):

https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-6087-2021-INIT/en/pdf

Statement on the ePrivacy Regulation and the future role of Supervisory Authorities and the EDPB. Adopted on 19 November 2020:
https://edpb.europa.eu/sites/default/files/files/file1/edpb_statement_20201119_eprivacy_regulation_en.pdf

February 2022 Clifford Chance/ Lex E-Privacy check-in: where we are, and where we're headed
March 2022 Härting Rechtsanwälte/ Lex ePrivacy Regulation: EU Council agrees on the draft

 

e-Commerce

 

Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market ('Directive on electronic commerce'). ‘information society services’ are defined as ‘any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient of services.’ Article 5 covers general information to be provided by the ‘service provider’, which information should be made ‘easily, directly and permanently accessible to the recipients of the service’. The Directive sets out the information requirements for commercial communications which are part of, or constitute, an information society service under article 6.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32000L0031

 

Pricing

 

Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers. The purpose of this Directive is to stipulate indication of the selling price and the price per unit of measurement of products offered by traders to consumers in order to improve consumer information and to facilitate comparison of prices (Article 1). For the purposes of this Directive, selling price shall mean the final price for a unit of the product, or a given quantity of the product, including VAT and all other taxes (Article 2a). While this legislation seems prima facie most suited to ‘goods on shelves’ as it requires unit prices (the final price, including VAT and all other taxes, for one kilogramme, one litre, one metre, one square metre or one cubic metre of the product), the Directive was used as the basis for a significant ECJ judgement on car pricing in advertising. Some amendments to Directive 98/6/EC related to price reduction information are provided in Directive 2019/2161 linked below.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex:31998L0006

 

Commercial practices 

 

Directive 2005/29/EC of The European Parliament and of The Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 (the ‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’ – UCPD). This is the European legislation that most impacts marketing and advertising in Europe. Some amendments to Directive 2005/29/EC are provided in Directive 2019/2161 linked below; these are supposed to be transposed by November 2021 and in force in member states by May 2022.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2005/29/oj
Guidance:
December 2021, the European Commission issued Guidance on the interpretation and application of the UCPD, updating the 2016 version. 

 

 

The Omnibus Directive 

 

Directive (EU) 2019/2161 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directives 98/6/EC, 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the better enforcement and modernisation of Union consumer protection rules. This directive, which 'aims to strengthen consumer rights through enhanced enforcement measures and increased transparency requirements', sets out some new information requirements related to search rankings and consumer reviews under the UCPD 2005/29/EC, new pricing information under Directive 2011/83/EU in the context of automated decision-making and profiling of consumer behaviour, and price reduction information under the Product Pricing Directive 98/6/EC. More directly related to this database, and potentially significant for multinational advertisers, is the clause that amends article 6 (misleading actions) of the UCPD adding ‘(c) any marketing of a good, in one Member State, as being identical to a good marketed in other Member States, while that good has significantly different composition or characteristics, unless justified by legitimate and objective factors’. Recitals related to this clause, which provide some context, are here. Helpful explanatory piece on the Omnibus Directive 2019/2161 from A&L Goodbody via Lexology here. Provisions were supposed to be transposed by November 2021 and in force in member states by May 2022; some delays but all in place end 2022.  
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/2161/oj

 

Comparative advertising

 

Directive 2006/114/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 concerning misleading and comparative advertising (codified version):

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32006L0114

 

Audiovisual media

 

Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services: the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, or AVMSD. This is the codified version of the much-amended Directive 89/552/EEC and represents the core European broadcast legislation, providing significant structural and content rules, applied largely consistently across member states.  From a marcoms perspective, the core articles are 9 (Discrimination, safety, the environment, minors and some prohibitions), 10 (Sponsorship), 11 (Product Placement) and 22 (Alcoholic beverages rules).

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32010L0013

 

AVMSD amendment

 

Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 amending Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive) in view of changing market realities. The background to this significant development of the AVMSD is here and there's a helpful piece from Simmons and Simmons LLP/ Lexology here. In broad terms, the Directive addresses the changes in media consumption in recent years and pays particular attention to the protection of minors in that context, extending rules to e.g. shared content on SNS. There are ‘strengthened provisions to protect children from inappropriate audiovisual commercial communications for foods high in fat, salt and sodium and sugars, including by encouraging codes of conduct at EU level, where necessary’. See article 4a. Rules for alcoholic beverages are extended to on-demand audiovisual media services, but those provisions (social/ sexual success etc.) are not amended. Another significant aspect is the introduction of rules for video-sharing platforms in particular under articles 28a and 28b; new rules include the identification of commercial communications where known. The Directive entered into force 18th December 2018; member states are required to have transposed into national law by 19th September 2020.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/1808/oj

 

Food Regulations

 

EU Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods. The annex to the Regulation contains the nutritional claims and the conditions under which they can be made for individual products. More information on the Regulation is here, and the Regulation itself is found in full from the link below:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:02006R1924-20121129&from=EN

 

Regulation 432/2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods, other than those referring to the reduction of disease risk and to children’s development and health. This Regulation carries an updated annex with the complete list of approved health (as opposed to nutrition) claims and their conditions of use:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32012R0432

 

Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. While this Regulation is largely to do with labelling, it also incorporates a number of broad requirements for advertising, largely to do with misleadingness, set out under Article 7:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32011R1169&from=EN

 

​Regulation 609/2013 on food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control:

eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A32013R0609

 

Audiovisual media 

 

AVMS Directive (incorporating some alcohol rules). Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive). Article 9 for General rules, 22 for Alcohol rules. Consolidated version following amends of Directive 2018/1808:

 

 

The Digital Services Act

 

Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act). European Commission pages on the DSA are here. Wikipedia entry is here. Helpful legal commentary, which also addresses the Digital Markets Act, is from DLA Piper/ Lex February 2023: Online advertising: A regulatory patchwork under construction. Key marcoms issues for advertisers/ platforms are the identification of advertising material and parameters used for its targeting and the prohibition of advertising based on profiling that uses using special data categories such as religious belief, health data sexual orientation etc. (art.26), or if the platform has reason to believe the recipient is a minor (art. 28). The Regulation applies from February 2024. 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32022R2065

 

 

The Digital Markets Act

 

Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and amending Directives (EU) 2019/1937 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Digital Markets Act). European Commission pages are here; from those: 'Some large online platforms act as "gatekeepers" in digital markets. The Digital Markets Act aims to ensure that these platforms behave in a fair way online.Together with the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act is one of the centrepieces of the European digital strategy.' Wikipedia entry is here.  Article 2a prohibits the processing, for the purpose of providing online advertising services, personal data of end users using services of third parties that make use of core platform services of the gatekeeper, unless the end user has been presented with the specific choice and has given consent within the meaning of Article 4, point (11), and Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. The Regulation entered into force on 1st November 2022 and applied on 2nd May, 2023. Gatekeepers will be identified and they will have to comply by 6th March 2024 at the latest.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/1925

 

 

 

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