ISBA has responded to this long awaited consultation, which is on the secondary legislation that will help implement the 9pm broadcast/ODPS watershed and paid-for online ban on HFSS advertising.
The extended delay in publication has resulted in profound uncertainty for ISBA members, and there continue to be fundamental questions about the way in which the restrictions will operate. Industry continues to need clarity on important elements of the restrictions – not least the brand exemption.
Throughout the process of government consulting on and legislating for aspects of the Obesity Strategy, we have been clear: advertisers recognise that the UK faces an obesity crisis and accept that they can and should play their part in tackling it. Advertising companies are part of the solution; but they should not be the whole of the solution, and our concern remains that, with these restrictions, government is treating the curbing of advertising as a silver bullet.
In this consultation response, we argue for some amendments to the secondary regulations which would give greater certainty to brands around exemptions from the rules; and ask government to be clearer about its policy intention around brand advertising, to help guide the regulator as it draws up its guidance.