Ofcom stands firm on junk-food ad ban

by Steve Barrett, Media Week 20-Feb-07

Communications regulator Ofcom has said it will vigorously defend any legal challenge to its extension of the ban on advertising junk food to young people aged under 16.

Ofcom released proposals last November for regulating the advertising of
foods high in fat, salt and sugar to children.

The regulator proposed extending a ban to include 10 to 15-year-olds,

surprising the media sector, which had widely expected the advertising

ban to apply only to programming aimed at children under 10.

Before Christmas, the regulator opened up a period of further
consultation on the extension to under-16s, during which the
Incorporated Society of British Advertisers suggested the proposal could
be illegal (Media Week, 16 January, page 3).

Speaking exclusively to Media Week, Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards
said:"The extra consultation is nearly finished and our response should
be published in the next few weeks.

"Implementation will then take place, and we will see whether we end up
in court."

The possible legal challenge was one cause of the response delay, which
was originally due at the end of January.

"We are perfectly prepared to end up in court," Richards said.

"We've got our positions clear - that's why we have taken our time over
it. We have taken advice and think we've got a robust position."

Isba director of public affairs Ian Twinn re-iterated the group's
position that Ofcom had gone too far in extending the ban to
under-16s.

However, he said he expected his members to respect the position.

The group last week held a briefing meeting for 100 of its member
companies and their agencies about how the new rules will affect future
campaigns.

"There isn't going to be anyone who wants to go to court on this," Twinn
said.

Ofcom also launched a review of children's programming last week in a
bid to assess the extent to which the existing television public service
broadcasters - BBC, ITV, Channel 4, S4C, Five and Teletext - fulfil the
purposes of public service broadcasting.

Richards said Ofcom had to balance two conflicting public interests:
tackling obesity and ensuring the continued production of high-quality
programming.

The regulator intends to publish the findings of its programming review
during the summer.