China's Printed Advertisement Measures: Ad Content on Packaging, Decoration and Product Manuals Is Covered Too

These Measures are laid down in accordance with the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations on the Administration of Advertising and other relevant State provisions, with the aim of tightening oversight of printed advertising materials, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of both consumers and business operators, and keeping the market fair and competitive.

Printed advertising materials governed by these Measures come in two forms. General-form printed advertisements are issued by advertisers on their own, or through an advertising operator they engage, in the shape of leaflets, posters, brochures and similar items, to promote goods or services the advertiser itself sells. Fixed-form printed advertisements are issued by advertising operators in dedicated advertising collections carrying a set name, specification and style, to promote goods or services sold by others.

Printed advertising materials must be truthful, lawful, and in keeping with the requirements of socialist spiritual civilization. False content is forbidden, and consumers must not be deceived or misled.

Printed advertising materials must be identifiable, so that consumers can clearly tell they are looking at advertising. News reports and other non-advertising content may not be included.

Publishing printed advertising materials must not disrupt public order, social production or people's daily life. Such materials may not be published in any place or area where publication is banned by laws, regulations, or the people's government at county level or above in the locality concerned.

When an advertiser publishes general-form printed advertising on its own, it must show its own name and address. Where an advertising operator is engaged to design, produce and publish such materials, the operator's name and address must be shown as well.

Where advertisers or advertising operators use printed materials to advertise pharmaceuticals, medical devices, pesticides, veterinary drugs and similar products, or to run any other advertising that laws and administrative regulations require to be reviewed, they must first obtain the corresponding advertising review and approval documents and publish strictly in line with those documents.

An advertising operator applying to publish fixed-form printed advertising must meet all of the following: advertising is its main business, its business scope covers advertising agency and advertising publication, and its enterprise name states “advertising” as the industry it belongs to; registered capital of more than RMB 1.5 million; and more than 3 years since the enterprise was established.

To publish fixed-form printed advertising, an advertising operator applies to the administration for industry and commerce of the province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government or city under separate State planning where it is located, and submits four items: an application report stating the proposed name and specification of the fixed-form printed advertisement, the number of issues, timing, quantity and scope of publication, the types of goods and services introduced, and the recipients, methods and channels of distribution; a copy of the business licence; a registration application form for fixed-form printed advertising; and the front-page layout of the publication.

If the application materials are incomplete or do not conform to the statutory form, the provincial, autonomous-region, municipality directly under the Central Government or city under separate State planning administration for industry and commerce must inform the operator, in a single notice within five days, of everything that needs to be supplemented or corrected. If the materials are complete and in the statutory form, it issues a notice of acceptance and decides within twenty days of acceptance: approval brings a Registration Certificate for Fixed-Form Printed Advertisements, while refusal must be explained in writing.

The Registration Certificate for Fixed-Form Printed Advertisements is valid for two years. An advertising operator may apply to the original registration authority for renewal thirty days before the validity period ends.

Every issue of fixed-form printed advertising must carry, at the top of its front page, the name of the publication, the advertising operator's name and address, the registration certificate number, the issue number, the publication date, and the unified mark “DM”.

The name of a fixed-form printed advertisement is composed of three elements in sequence: the administrative division in the advertising operator's enterprise name, the enterprise trade name, and the word “advertising”. The lettering must be conspicuous, all elements must be uniform in size and consistent in typeface, and together they must occupy no less than 10% of the front page.

Both the front page and the back page of fixed-form printed advertising must be advertising pages, and advertising titles or tables of contents may not be printed on the front page. Wording such as sponsor, co-organizer, producer, editorial department, editor, publisher, this publication, magazine or special issue, which could be confused with newspapers and periodicals, is not permitted.

Any advertising catalogue or index inside fixed-form printed advertising must consist of product (or trademark) names or advertisers' names, and the advertising content it points to must specifically and clearly identify the advertiser and the goods or services being promoted. Advertising operators may not publish advertising in the form of news reports.

Where an advertising operator needs to publish fixed-form printed advertising in Chinese and a foreign language side by side for the needs of a particular group, it must not breach the relevant State provisions on language and script.

Advertising operators must publish fixed-form printed advertising under the approved name, specification and style. They must accept supervision and inspection by the administrations for industry and commerce, submit samples of the publication and other relevant materials on request, and must not conceal the true situation or supply false materials.

Advertising operators may not alter, resell, lease or lend the Registration Certificate for Fixed-Form Printed Advertisements, nor transfer the publication to another party to publish or operate.

Printed advertising placed in shopping malls, pharmacies, medical service institutions, entertainment venues and other public places requires the prior consent of the management of those venues. Those managers are responsible for overseeing the printed advertising distributed, displayed or posted within the areas under their jurisdiction, and must refuse publication of any material that breaches advertising laws and regulations.

Companies that print printed advertising materials must follow the relevant provisions and may not print advertising material containing illegal content.

Breaches of these Measures are penalised under the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations on the Administration of Advertising, other relevant laws and administrative regulations, and the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Regulations on the Administration of Advertising. Where those instruments are silent, the administration for industry and commerce orders the unlawful conduct to stop and, depending on the circumstances, imposes a fine of up to three times the illegal gains but no more than RMB 30,000; where there are no illegal gains, the fine is no more than RMB 10,000.

Individuals who illegally distribute or post printed advertising are ordered by the administration for industry and commerce to stop the unlawful conduct and are fined no more than RMB 50.

Where a fixed-form printed advertising operator's circumstances change and it no longer meets the conditions set out in Article 8 of these Measures, the original registration authority withdraws its Registration Certificate for Fixed-Form Printed Advertisements.

Where fixed-form printed advertising breaches Article 3 of these Measures in serious circumstances, the original registration authority may, in line with Articles 37, 39 and 41 of the Advertising Law, halt the offender's fixed-form printed advertising business and cancel its Registration Certificate for Fixed-Form Printed Advertisements.

Where bills, packaging, decoration and product manuals contain advertising content, that content is governed by these Measures as well.

These Measures take effect on January 1, 2005. The Measures for the Administration of Printed Advertisements, promulgated on January 13, 2000 by Order No. 95 of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, are repealed at the same time.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362035.html