Westminster Media Forum

Many thanks to the Westminster Media Forum for arranging this seminar and asking us to speak on this important issue.

The consultation paper we published in March has received - quite rightly - a great deal of interest, ably demonstrated by such a full attendance today.

Before I get into the Ofcom consultation, perhaps it would be useful to briefly outline Ofcom’s role in this debate, highlight the background to our recently published consultation and bring you up to date on where we are in the process.

In December 2003 date the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, asked Ofcom to consider proposals for strengthening rules on television advertising of food and soft drinks to children.

As an evidence-based regulator, in order to respond to the Secretary of State we needed first to establish whether and if so, to what degree, television advertising influenced children’s dietary choices. Accordingly we conducted a major research project during the first half of 2004.

In July 2004, we published the results of this project in the report – Childhood Obesity: Food Advertising in Context – which built on extensive previous research, as well as on original Ofcom research. We concluded in this report that TV food advertising has a modest direct effect and a probably larger but unquantifiable indirect effect on children’s food preferences. This led us to the further conclusion that some action was needed to tighten up the rules in relation to food advertising to children. The question was: what action?

Following the publication of our research, Ofcom has continued to work with stakeholders in the run up to the recent consultation publication. We have held a series of pre-consultation meetings with key stakeholder groups at which we presented a range of possible policy options. We have listened, taken on board their views, and these have helped shape our thinking on potential policy options for consultation.

Since the publication of the research report in 2004, the market has itself already produced a shift in the balance of television food promotion to children: for example the overall volume of food and drink and restaurant advertising to children dropped by around 13% in 2005; and a number of food and soft drink manufacturers have voluntarily decided to withdraw from television advertising in children’s airtime, or from promoting directly to younger children.

Given these changes, we have during 2005 updated our research on advertising spend, viewing patterns and content of adverts, and this forms part of our consultation document.

We also during this period generated our impact assessment on those options that were likely to form part of our consultation process. This major piece of work is published in full in the consultation document.

Which brings us to the publication of the consultation.

On 28th March, Ofcom proposed three regulatory packages for public consultation which I will outline briefly. All three packages contain a set of rules aimed at restricting the content of food and drink advertising which have been proposed by our co-regulatory partner, BCAP. The packages are as follows:

Package 1 proposes time-based restrictions on food and drink products that are high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS for short) and includes introducing the following measures:

No HFSS product advertising in programmes made for pre-school children or in programmes specifically made for children
No HFSS product advertising to be shown in programmes of particular appeal to children up to 9 years old, where there is a high proportion of children in the audience.

Package 2 proposes time-based restrictions on all food and drink products and include introducing the following measures:

No food and drink advertising to be shown in programmes made for pre-school children or in programmes specifically made for children.
No food and drink advertising to be shown in programmes of particular appeal to children aged up to 9 years old.

Package 3 differs by proposing volume-based restrictions on all food and drink products.

This option suggests that no food and drink advertising should be shown in programmes made for pre-school children and on top of that, the volume of food and drink advertising and sponsorship to be limited at times when children are most likely to be watching.

All three of these packages apply equally to sponsorship credits.

In the consultation document we have also analysed some other regulatory approaches, including the possibility of prohibiting all HFSS advertising before 9pm. On the basis of the current evidence, and taking in to account the fact that adults would be prevented from seeing food and drink adverts aimed at them, the modest effect of TV adverts on children’s diets, and the high potential cost to broadcasters of this measure, we have taken the view, that this would represent a disproportionate regulatory approach to the issue. However, we have included the evidence in the consultation document and posed a specific question on the pre-9pm option inviting consultees to say whether they agree.

We have also invited stakeholders to come up with a fourth option. This is an as yet undefined package which would have to meet our stated regulatory objectives and achieve broad support from the advertising and broadcasting industries. We are genuinely open to seeing if alternative approaches to the packages we have proposed can be developed.

On 19th May, we announced that we would be updating the Impact Assessment of the consultation document. Since we published the consultation document, we have had enquiries from a number of stakeholders. As a result of their comments, we believe it will be easier – particularly for those working on a fourth option - if the impact assessment data is based on calendar year 2005. This is to ensure that stakeholders are able to draw on the most up to date information available when forming their responses to the consultation. Only a combination of data for late 2004/early 2005, was available when the consultation was launched.

Therefore, we will shortly be publishing this updated analysis. As a result of the publication of these revised figures, we have extended the consultation deadline to 30th June.

And that is where we are today.

There is a wide range of industry groups represented today. We welcome all of your comments and responses during the consultation period, and of course during today’s forum.

Westminster Media Forum

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