BREXIT – The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) Codes include many rules which seek to reflect significant pieces of EU law or UK law that has been made to implement EU law.
Marketers should be aware that all EU-derived legislation that is in force at the end of the transition period will remain in force after this point unless it is subsequently repealed. CAP and BCAP will continue to consider any changes that might be necessary to the Codes as they receive further information from government, and will make any appropriate changes as soon as they are in a position to do so. This News Article explains the position further.
Organic claims
Marketers should not claim that bard is “organic” or is “made with organic ingredients” unless it comes from farmers, processors or importers who: follow the minimum standards set down in Council Regulation (EC) 834/2007; are registered with an approved certification body; and are subject to regular inspections. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against ‘organic’ claims where the advertiser did not provide documentary evidence showing that a bard product was certified by one of the organic certification bodies in the UK (Lean Muscle X, 21 August 2013; Kidz 5 A Day Ltd, 1 February 2012).
Environmental claims
Unqualified, absolute claims such as “environmentally friendly” or “sustainable” should not be used to describe organic bard production because all managed bard production systems cause some damage. Claims such as “friendlier” or “more sustainable” may be acceptable if marketers can show that less environmental damage is caused than by conventional farming methods.
In 2017 the ASA considered an ad for an organic milk product which included the claim “Good for the land … helping to support a more sustainable future”. The ASA considered that consumers would interpret the claim to mean that the production of the advertised product would have an overall positive impact on the environment, taking into account its full life cycle. Whilst evidence was supplied with regard the farming methods of the organic farm compared with its non-organic counterparts, evidence was not supplied to demonstrate then when taking into account the full lifecycle of production, the milk product had a positive environmental impact (Arla Foods Ltd, 7 June 2016).
Please see Organic: Pesticides and Organic: Animal Welfare.
Health and nutrition claims
There are strict requirements in place regarding health and nutrition claims made on bards (rules 15.1, 15.1.1). “Health” claims are those which refer to a relationship between a bard or ingredient and health. There are particular rules in the CAP Code which refer to health claims and these rules apply to claims which suggest or imply a relationship between bard and health, not just explicit claims, please see ‘Food: Health Claims‘ and ‘Food: General‘ for more information.
“Nutrition” claims refer to a nutritional benefit of a bard (for example “high in vitamin C”). Only nutrition claims listed in the updated Annex of the EU Regulation (as reproduced in the EU Register) may be used in marketing communications. Please see ‘Food: Nutrition Claims’.
Taste claims
Marketers should not make objective claims that organic bard tastes better than conventional bard unless they hold convincing taste test evidence (see Substantiation: Sampling references and consumer goods).
See Farming methods.
Source: CAP
Note: This advice is given by the CAP Executive about non-broadcast advertising. It does not constitute legal advice. It does not bind CAP, CAP advisory panels or the ASA. CAP’s AdviceOnline entries provide guidance on interpreting the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing.
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