The government yesterday sought to ease the pains of the media over the self-declaration of all advertisements — a move necessitated by a recent Supreme Court order — by saying such affidavits now would be needed for ads related to food and health sectors.

In ad advisory, dated July 3, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said, “Advertisers/advertising agencies issuing advertisements for products and services related to Food and Health sectors are advised to upload an annual self-declaration certificate…and make available the proof of uploading the self-declaration to the concerned media stakeholders, such as TV channels, newspapers, entities involved in publishing of advertisements on the Internet, etc. for the record.”

MIB’s clarification that the self-declaration of ads, to be uploaded on the Broadcast Seva portal, managed by the ministry, should be related to the food and health sectors is a big reprieve for all stakeholders.

While hearing a case involving misleading ads from an Indian FMCG company, the Supreme Court in May had observed that “before an advertisement is printed/aired/displayed, a self-declaration shall be submitted by the advertiser/advertising agency on the lines contemplated in Rule 7 of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994…”

When the government went about enforcing the rule on all ads being published in India, as mandated by the top court, the enormity of the logistics involved dawned all round as industry stakeholders, including TV channels and newspapers, voiced their concern on the practicality of such a norm and the huge disruption it would bring about in the industry.

In its latest advisory the MIB also clarified that it shall be the responsibility of the advertisers/advertising agencies to ensure that every advertisement being issued by them is in adherence to the applicable Indian laws, rules and regulations in letter and spirit.

The self- declaration certificates are to be uploaded on the Broadcast Seva Portal for ads related to TV and radio, while the portal of the Press Council of India  is to be used for advertisements on print media and the Intenet.