India: Surrogate advertising notification awaits govt clarification

A notification issued on 27 February 2009 on surrogate advertising has still not been operationalised as the government has failed to work out a mechanism for differentiating between surrogate ads and genuine brand extensions of tobacco and alcohol products, parliament was told earlier this week.

The notification came following a long pending demand from broadcasters to allow bonafide advertisements of genuine brands using the brand name/logo which is associated with tobacco products or alcohol.

A committee of secretaries from different ministries held a meeting on 22 January this year and resolved to work out a formula, but this has not happened. Prior to that, A note was circulated to the department of consumer affairs, department of industrial policy & promotion, department of legal affairs, department of health and family welfare and the department of revenue.

The committee had decided that information & broadcasting and health and family welfare ministry officials would decide a note for operationalisation of the notification and inform the cabinet secretariat within a month. In case the two ministries do not agree, the matter would be referred again to the committee, it had been resolved.

Meanwhile, information & broadcasting minister Manish Tewari told parliament that the committee had also decided that issues regarding advertisements on genuine brand extension for both tobacco and alcohol products will continue to be dealt with together.

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