New South African SRO joins ICAS
On 1 January 2019, the recently established Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) of South Africa became a member of the International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (ICAS) in replacement of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the former Self-Regulatory Organization responsible for implementing advertising standards in the South African market.
In November 2018, the ARB was launched to take over the work of administering the Code of Advertising Practice on behalf of the advertising and marketing industry, following the forced placement of the ASA into liquidation proceedings at the end of September. The founding members of the ARB are the Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA), the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), and the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) of South Africa.
ICAS is a global platform promoting responsible advertising through effective self-regulation. Its members include Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs) and other national, regional and international bodies working to ensure that marketing communications are legal, honest, truthful and decent.
One of ICAS’ key objectives is to facilitate the establishment of new SROs and to empower them to grow. Our global network therefore supports the efforts of the South African advertising and marketing industry to promote self-regulation as a means to achieve consumer protection and fair competition among brands.
Gail Schimmel, CEO of the ARB, said:
I am excited that the ARB has been accepted as member in ICAS within a few months from its creation. We have learnt the lessons from the 50 years of experience of the ASA and we look forward to exchanging best practices with Advertising Self-Regulatory Organizations from across the world to reinforce and grow our local system, for the benefit of consumers and the industry.
José Domingo Gómez Castallo, ICAS President, said:
The South African market has historically been a strong supporter of international cooperation in the field of advertising self-regulation. I was impressed by the capacity of the industry to rebound and establish a new organization following the closure of the ASA. Our global network is proud to support the ARB in its efforts to keep self-regulation alive.
MEMBERS ONLY AREA