International Advertising Clearance - May 2004 - GALA

Legal Regulatory Structure
Industry Self-Regulation?
Comparative Advertising
Allowed? Issues? (See footnote
for explanation of "usual and
customary criteria")
Prohibited Product Ads?
Use of famous person permitted
without permission?
Use of identifiable 3rd party
product permitted?
Specific Price Advertising
Restrictions (beyond being "not
misleading")?
Cultural Taboos / Legal
Restrictions?
Complete Answers
INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING CLEARANCE
Portugal Puerto Rico Romania Singapore South Africa
National and Municipal US and National National National Federal
Yes, by the Civil Institute
of Advertising Autodiscipline
- ICAP, the
Portuguese Association
of Advertising Agencies -
APAP, and the
Portuguese Association
of Direct Marketing -
APMD.
Yes, by the PR Chamber
of Commerce
members/interest groups,
but it is not widely used.
The Romanian
Yes, by the Advertising
Association of Advertising Standards Authority of
Agencies (RAAA) was Singapore (ASAS), to
established in 2000 and enforce the Singapore
has an objective to Code of Advertising
establish self-regulation,
but has not yet done so.
Practice (SCAP)
Yes, by the Advertising
Standards Authority, to
enforce the Code of
Advertising Practice
(based on the Internat'l
Chamber of Commerce
Ad Code), with
complaint procedures
open to anyone.
Yes, per EU Directive on Yes, subject to usual and Yes, subject to usual and Yes, but trademark Yes, subject to usual and
Comparative Advertising customary criteria customary criteria infringement is a real
issue if competitor's mark
is used.
customary criteria
Alcohol on radio and TV
during the hours of 7am -
22:30pm; Tobacco in all
media; prescription drugs
and treatments with the
exception to technical
publications; games of
chance if it is the main
object of the message;
"miracle" products is
forbidden in all media.
Tobacco on radio, TV
and outdoor; alcohol on
TV; casino gambling
games on internet
Permission required Follows US law - as a
general rule, permission
required and broadly
interpreted to include
any indicia of identity.
Yes, if it doesn't take
advantage of a
renowned trademark,
commercial name or
other distinctive signal of
a competitor.
Fleeting & incidental use
generally ok, beware
false association,
endorsement &
trademark infringement
Narcotics and
psychotropic drugs, Rx
drugs, weapons not
intended for hunting or
sport. On TV and radio,
tobacco, lawyers and
related service providers,
private clinics. Alcohol
advertising is restricted.
Ok, provided that it is
done without prejudice
to the person
No Yes, strict monitoring Must provide reference
regarding base and
regular prices which form
basis for sale advertising;
full disclosure required to
provide "apples to
apples" price
comparisons.
price for discount claims
Portugal has a very
strong Catholic
presence. Any religious
advertising is very
sensitive.
Take care with use of the Many general rules
colors blue, red and regarding non-
green as each stands for discrimination and
a political party with a human dignity. Of
certain position on US- particular note is the
Puerto Rico relations; regulation that an ad
similarly, the use of a should not stimulate
single predominant star behaviors which
will evoke an association damage the
with the statehood ideal. environment.
Use Spanish rather than
English for wider appeal;
do not assume that
regional slang from other
Latin American countries
will translate well to
Puerto Rico.
Tobacco; restrictions on
medicinal products and
lotteries
Tobacco
No specific legislation Unclear, analysis would
be based on right of
privacy
Yes No, but trademark and
copyright infringement
issues must be regarded
Yes, but take care to
avoid trademark
infringement
No specific legislation Single price discount may
be advertised for a
maximum of 3 weeks;
ads with price
comparisons will be
restricted to a maximum
period
Language issues are No discriminatory
complicated. Do not use advertising or gender
soldiers or
stereotyping unless
representations of other reasonable and
public offices in ads. justifiable in an open and
democratic society
based on human dignity,
equality and freedom.
See Tab 33 See Tab 34 See Tab 35 See Tab 36 See Tab 37
*Various requirements for comparative ads include: accuracy and substantiation of claims based on proper, valid and reliable data, like to like products, comparisons only of meaningful features and current products/prices.