MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA), Kapisanan ng Mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) and the Ad Standards Council (ASC) have adopted, in part or in full, the provisions of the revised Consolidated International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Code of Advertising and Marketing Communications.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the world business organization, the only representative body that speaks with authority on behalf of enterprises from all sectors in every part of the world. The ICC was founded in 1919 and today it groups thousands of member companies and associations from over 130 countries.

The revised Consolidated ICC Marketing Code is the work of the ICC’s Commission on Marketing and Advertising, a major rule-setter in international advertising self-regulation since 1937.

The Commission on Marketing and Advertising is composed of policy experts from ICC member companies from the marketing and advertising industry, including legal advisors from industrial and commercial enterprises and lawyers in private practice, representing a wide range of national backgrounds and business representative organizations.

The revised consolidated ICC marketing code, launched recently at a global conference in Buenos Aires provides new protection for Internet users and detailed standards for marketers selling to them are highlighted in a newly revised code of global marketing practice.

The Code sets out the dos and don’ts on many topical and difficult marketing issues including:

• Setting conditions and limits for online behavioral targeting of advertising (OBA), based on interest profiles created by tracking web browsing habits of consumers;

• Establishing restrictions on products that may be marketed to children and information gathered from them;

• Specifying guidelines for making responsible environmental marketing claims and creating sound food and beverage ads;

• Setting standards for ethical behavior and transparency on digital communications for the new technology players, including mobile operators, search engines, application developers, information aggregators and data gatherers;

• Protecting consumer privacy with clear guidance on consumers’ rights, including the right to know what information is acquired by a marketer and the standards for the collection, use and safeguarding of personal data when it is collected.