Consumer Education & Research Centre

Ref. : ER/press/'06/agricult.10/kkb-dg

Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad, in co-operation with the European Union - Delegation of the European Commission to India, has organised a Seminar at Chennai on 30 September 2006 on advertisement standards and regulatory mechanism.

The topic for the one-day Seminar is “Indian Code of Advertisement Standards (Draft), Proposed Law for Advertisement Standards Regulatory Commission (ASRC) and Pre-vetting of Advertisements Operating in Other Countries”.

The objective of the CERC-EU project is to create public awareness and opinion on false and misleading advertisements and related legal issues so that an Advertisement Standards Regulatory Commission may ultimately evolve.

This will be the fourth and last in a series of regional seminars on the topic under the project before it is taken up at a two-day national seminar in Delhi. The earlier three regional seminars have been held at Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Kolkata.

As envisaged in the project, three CERC representatives have recently completed a study tour of Germany, UK, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark to gain an insight into the laws governing advertising and misleading advertisements as well as the regulatory mechanism operating there.

The Inauguration of the Chennai seminar will be held at the Auditorium, Anna Institute of Management, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon and the Technical Sessions from 12:30 to 05:15 p.m. at the same venue.

The Minister for Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Protection and Price Control, Government of Tamilnadu, Mr. E. V. Velu, will inaugurate the Seminar and deliver the Inaugural Address. Mr. S. Machendranathan, IAS, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of Tamilnadu, will preside over the Inauguration.

Mr. N. L. Rajah, Trustee, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), Chennai, will give an overview of the proposed Advertising Code and Mr. Sundar Swamy, Managing Director, R K Swamy/BBDO Ad Agency, Chennai, will project the advertising industry’s viewpoint. Earlier, Prof. Manubhai Shah, Chairman Emeritus, CERC, will welcome the guests, and Prof. P. C. John, Trustee, CERC, will draw a curtain on the Inauguration with a Vote of Thanks.

The Seminar will lay stress on the need for (i) separate legislation, (ii) sensitising Members of Parliament to the issues, and (iii) setting up an Advertising Standards Regulatory Commission (ASRC) in India, modelled on EU lines. It will obtain the views and experiences of a cross-section of stakeholders on false and misleading ads.

Sharing the common platform will be, among others, consumer groups, the print and electronic media, legal experts, academics, government officials, industry, manufacturers, service providers, business organisations, advertisers and advertising agencies. The seminar will enable the media to share its experiences and concerns vis-a-vis the exercise of its Freedom of Expression and the Right to Information.

At the first Technical Session, Prof. S. Peer Mohamed, Chairman, Federation of Consumer Organisations of Tamilnadu (FEDCOT), will present the consumer organisations’ viewpoint, and Prof. Shah and Mr. Kirti Bhatt, Director - Legal Services, CERC, will share the experiences of their study tours abroad. The advertising agencies’ and the print media’s viewpoints will be presented, respectively, by Mr. R. V. Rajan, Chairman and Managing Director, Anugraha Madison Advertising, and Mr. R. Bhagwan Singh, Chief of News Bureau, Deccan Chronicle, both of Chennai. Ms Kavitha Vijay, Universal Legal, Chennai, will share the legal perspective and Prof. R. B. Kumar, Director (Academic), New College Institute of Management (NCIM), Chennai, will dwell on the role of academic institutes.

The Sessions will include an Open House, to be chaired by Mr. N. L. Rajah, which will be followed by a Valedictory Session, where Prof. Manubhai Shah, Chairman Emeritus, Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad, will present a summary of the day’s proceedings. Mr. T. S. Krishnamurthy, Trustee, CERC, and former Chief Election Commissioner, will preside over the Valedictory Session.

Date : 28/09/2006 Pritee Shah
Place: Ahmedabad Editor Insight-The Consumer Magazine