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STANMARK2010-2011

• Part-funding by European Commission (External Relations)

• EU Programme to promote policy dialogue Europe-N America

• Awarded for ‘tackling child obesity through policies on marketing food and beverages to children’

STANMARK2010-2011

• Aim: Setting standards in marketing food and beverages to children

• Approach: Policy and evidence review

• Strategy: Moving beyond industry self-regulation

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STANMARK2010-2011

• Joint initiative led by IASO-IOTF …

• …partnered by Rudd Center (Yale) and Copenhagen Metropolitan University College,

• Series of 3 expert meetings

• Final meeting with wider stakeholder participants in Brussels, 2011

The IOTF Sydney Principles

Launched ICO 2006 1. SUPPORT THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN. Regulations need to align with and support the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Rome Declaration on World Food Security which endorse the rights of children to adequate, safe and nutritious food.

2. AFFORD SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION TO CHILDREN. Children are particularly vulnerable to commercial exploitation, and regulations need to be sufficiently powerful to provide them with a high level of protection. Child protection is the responsibility of every section of society - parents, governments, civil society, and the private sector.

3. BE STATUTORY IN NATURE. Only legally-enforceable regulations have sufficient authority to ensure a high level of protection for children from targeted marketing and the negative impact that this has on their diets. Industry self-regulation is not designed to achieve this goal.

4. TAKE A WIDE DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL PROMOTIONS. Regulations need to encompass all types of commercial targeting of children (e.g. television advertising, print, sponsorships, competitions, loyalty schemes, product placements, relationship marketing, Internet) and be sufficiently flexible to include new marketing methods as they develop.

5. GUARANTEE COMMERCIAL-FREE CHILDHOOD SETTINGS. Regulations need to ensure that childhood settings such as schools, child care, and early childhood education facilities are free from commercial promotions that specifically target children.

6. INCLUDE CROSS BORDER MEDIA.International agreements need to regulate cross-border media such as Internet, satellite and cable television, and free to-air television broadcast from neighbouring countries.

7. BE EVALUATED, MONITORED AND ENFORCED. The regulations need to be evaluated to ensure the expected effects are achieved, independently monitored to ensure compliance, and fully enforced.

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2008

IASO-IOTF and Consumers International

Inspiration:

International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

IACFO 2003CI (Malaysia) 2004

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WHO 797 report 1990 “…there are increasing moves to limit the advertising of cigarettes despite intense lobbying to prevent these developments. To adopt the same policies for foods would be more difficult … would meet opposition…”

WHO 894 report 1999

Advertising influences “food selection by children and adults, especially among susceptible groups …Television viewing is closely linked to the consumption by children of foods that they see advertised on television…”

WHO 916 report 2003 “Probable increased risk of obesity from the heavy marketing of energy dense foods and fast food outlets….A potential target for intervention.”

WHO 2002 (D Yach and P Pushka) “Worldwide, the marketing activities adopted by the companies are aggressive, comprehensive, and aim to create demand by changing traditional drinking and eating habits.”

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WHO 2003 “…some experts have suggested that the marketing of such [HFSS] foods contributes to an ‘obesogenic’environment that makes healthy food choices more difficult, especially for children.”

WHO 2004 “…Governments should work with consumer groups and the private sector (including advertising) to develop appropriate multisectoralapproaches to deal with the marketing of food to children…”

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2003 Hastings evidence review for UK government

Advertising influences choice and consumption patterns

Institute of Medicine (USA) 2005:

• Marketing strongly influences children’s food preferences, requests and consumption

• Food and drink advertising on TV is associated with obesity of children (strong evidence) and youth (weaker evidence)

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WHO

2006 Expert consultation: “...action is essential” to control advertising to children

WHO 2008 “develop a framework and/or mechanisms for promoting the responsible marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children, in order to reduce the impact of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars, or salt.”

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Process for developing recommendations on the marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children

RecommendationsWHO May 2010

• Governments should set the policy components – e.g. age, media, techniques, foods, monitoring

• Settings where children gather should be free of HFSS food marketing

• Member states should cooperate to reduce the impact of cross-border marketing

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Meanwhile – at the EU level

European Commission 2004: Commissioner gives industry ‘one year’ to show reform or will regulate.2005: extended further two years.2006: Green Paper discussion on policy2007: White Paper on nutrition and obesity policy…

Advertising to children “The Commission’s preference, at this stage, is to keep the existing voluntary approach at EU level …The Commission will assess this approach and the various measures taken by industry, in 2010 and determine whether other approaches are also required.”

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European Parliament 2008: In the absence of evidence on the impact of advertising on children’s food choices and diets, policy makers should develop recommendations based on the precautionary principle.

WHO European Region 2006

“… measures should include: the adoption of regulations to substantially reduce the extent and impact of commercial promotion of energy-dense foods and beverages, particularly to children, with the development of international approaches, such as a code on marketing to children in this area…”

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WHO Euro

• 2007 Member States Network on Reducing Marketing Pressure on Children

• Code, published 2009

Companies offer EU ‘Pledge’• 11 companies, introduced by Dec 2008• Commitment to ‘change advertising on

TV, print and internet to children under age 12’

• EU pledge (Coca-Cola version): Children under 12 will not be directly targeted by any

marketing messages in traditional advertising media;Coca-Cola will not advertise in any paid, third party media.

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EU Pledge• EU pledge (Coca-Cola version): Children under 12 will not be directly targeted by any

marketing messages in traditional advertising mediums;

Indirect targeting via parents, siblings? Marketing in schools?Branded sports equipment?

Coca-Cola will not advertise in any paid, third party media.

Own internet sites?

Kelloggspublicity in 2007StanMark

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Voluntary codes of conduct?

Problems: • Codes rarely comprehensive• Do not cover all enterprises• Have no serious enforcement process• Give a false sense of regulation• Codes can be weakened, or even forgotten

when attention moves away

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STANMARK2010-2011

• Aim: Setting standards in marketing food and beverages to children

• Approach: Policy and evidence review

• Strategy: Moving beyond industry self-regulation

StanMark