APEC leaders identify development of regional advertising standards as 2014 priority
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders recently endorsed development work on best practice standards for regulating advertising at their ministerial meeting in Bali.
ICC continues to be actively engaged in supporting this process and welcomes the endorsement as a step forward validating previous work in this area to establish greater consistency in the rules and application of advertising frameworks in the region. This move will enable the recommendations of the November 2012 Hanoi Dialogue on Advertising Standards and Principles and Practice to be implemented.
ICC continues to work with The Advertising Standards Bureau Australia (ASBA), the European Advertising Standards Alliance, the World Federation of Advertisers and other partners to establish consistency based on international best practice frameworks and encourage greater capacity for economies wishing to build an effective advertising self-regulatory system.
The Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Practice, developed by the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising, serves as a foundation for self-regulatory structures around the world. It offers a baseline for APEC economies developing advertising principles while also providing flexibility for local laws and culture to be reflected in a national code.
“Common principles and advertising standards have wisely been recognized as a worthwhile pursuit by APEC economies,” said Brent Sanders, Assistant General Counsel of Microsoft and ICC Marketing and Advertising Commission Chair. “They offer the benefit of reducing trade barriers while offering an effective means to foster corporate responsibility and consumer trust. Alignment with international standards will help position advertising to serve effectively and responsibly as a valuable engine of economic growth across the region.”
ASBA is playing a leading role in driving the advancement of capacity building work on advertising standards and systems through APEC and will work with ICC and other international partners to identify next steps. They recently reported that APEC will soon finalize a project on identifying gaps in the advertising system and standards in the region. From there APEC members will tap into the knowledge base of existing systems, such as those in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand and others, to provide capacity building training and development to bring the systems and standards in all APEC economies to a level that will best benefit all communities.
Visit the ICC Marketing and Advertising Commission or download the Consolidated ICC Code.
