Andrey Kashevarov: analyzing CIS experience in disseminating social advertising will help us shape allowable common approaches

Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Kashevarov stated at the 17^th session of ICAP The Coordination Council on Advertising on 13 October 2016 in St Petersburg that still there are no criteria for evaluating social advertising in terms of whether disseminating particular advertisements is allowed. It is necessary to devise recommendations for determining the content of social advertising that can be used in the CIS countries.

Representatives of the antimonopoly bodies and the leading advertising associations of the CIS member states discussed regulation of the advertising industry.  In particular, the attendees shared information about specifics of placing outdoor advertising.

According to Tatiana Nikitina, Deputy Head of FAS Department for Control over Advertising and Unfair Competition, in Russia advertising constructions installed and operated without permissions are subject to dismantling based on determinations issued by local self-government bodies (Part 10 Article 19 of the Law on Advertising).

Such an approach is also common in some other CIS member states, for instance, Belarus, where the period for dismantling an advertising construction can be three days.

A special item on the agenda was “On the practice of the Russian Federation for exposing violations associated with dissemination of advertisements via telecommunications networks without subscriber’s consent”.  

“Several years ago Russian antimonopoly body received over 1500 complaints every month from physical persons about advertising via telecommunications networks. In 2014 amendments were made to the Federal Law “On Communications”  that changed the procedure for sending SMS-advertising, thanks to which the number of complaints fell down approximately tenfold”, said Tatiana Nikitina.