Updated Framework Helps Industry Navigate Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing

food scaleThe International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) today released a revised Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communications, intended to provide an updated and relevant self-regulatory tool at a time when pressure on industry is increasing, particularly with respect to marketing to children and growing concerns regarding obesity.

The framework presents a standard, uniformed approach to encourage responsible food and beverage communication and has been used as a foundation for aligning industry efforts and self-regulatory commitments in response to the World Health Organization’s agenda on reducing obesity. The framework requires that responsible food and beverage marketing should be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and clarifies that marketing communications must not undermine the importance of healthy lifestyles. Responsible marketing can help consumers make appropriate choices about products and to understand the role of nutrition, diet and physical activity in healthy lifestyles.

Prepared by the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising, the framework has been revised to align with the relevant revisions of the Consolidated ICC Code on Marketing and Advertising Communication Practices (ICC Code). It sets out business positions regarding: the role of commercial communication in our information-focused society, responsible marketing to children, and the importance of marketing to a competitive economy and consumer choice, while offering practical guidance on applying the general code principles specifically to food and beverage marketing.

“The ICC framework was first developed in 2004 at industry’s request and has subsequently been updated twice to keep current with the changes to the general ICC marketing code,” said Brent Sanders (Microsoft), chair of USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee and chair of the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising. “It provides a tool industry can apply through effective self-regulation within a legal framework that protects consumers from false and misleading claims.”

USCIB hosted the ICC Seminar on Consumer Savvy Marketing held in New York City June 7, which brought together top consumer protection and advertising self-regulation experts from the United States and around the world. The seminar showcased the importance of self-regulation work, where ICC has been a major rule-setter in international advertising self-regulation since 1937. The revised Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Communication Practice was launched in 2011.

ICC Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communications


Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Communications

Staff Contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

Staff Contact:   Kira Yevtukhova

Deputy Director, Marketing and Communications
Tel: 202.617.3160

Kira Yevtukhova manages USCIB’s print and online publications, including the website, e-newsletter and quarterly magazine, and serves as the organization’s digital media strategist. Prior to this role, Kira worked for over five years within USCIB’s Policy Department, focusing on climate change, environment, nutrition, health, and chemicals related policy issues. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and has an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
Read More

Related Content