The Advertising Association of Ghana has renewed calls for regulation of
advertising practice in Ghana to protect the interest of consumers and to
ensure sanity in the industry.
Executive Director of the AAG, Francis Dadzie who made the call was speaking
at a signing ceremony of a grant agreement between the association and the
Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund under the Business Sector
Programme Support in Accra on Friday.
“The Advertising Bill is the panacea for most of the challenges plaguing the
industry today such as the indiscriminate siting of out of home advertising
structures and will also lead to licensing of practitioners, professionalism,
consumer protection, and growth of the industry”, he said.
He added that the bill addresses issues such as consumer protection from
deceptive advertising, gender stereotyping and exploitation of children in
advertisements.
He disclosed that the association is currently engaging the Ministries of Trade
and Industry, and Communications to ensure the draft bill is passed by
parliament within the year.
With the support of BUSAC Fund, the association has since 2012 been
advocating for an Advertising Bill which will establish a legislative framework
leading to the set-up of an Advertising Council to regulate the industry.
The bill made it through parliament for a first reading in 2016 but could not be
passed before the mandate of the fourth parliament of the fourth republic
expired in December 2016. This means the whole process for passing the bill
has to be restarted.
Fund Manager, Nicholas Jorgensen Gebara explained why the Business Sector
Programme Support continues to partner the AAG in the advocacy for the
advertising bill. “We have been encouraging AAG to push for a bill to uphold
ethical standards for the advertising industry and we’re by this new agreement
following up for the association to push for the bill to pass through parliament.
The funds will be used to sensitize the parliamentary select committees on
Communications and Trade, Industry and Tourism as well as other
stakeholders on the need for the Advertising Bill.”
President of the Advertising Association of Ghana, Joel Nettey expressed
appreciation for the Business Sector Programme Support funded by DANIDA,
EU, USAID, and the BUSAC Fund which has made it possible for the AAG to
continue its advocacy for regulation of the advertising industry in Ghana.
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