The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)\u00a0 says media houses who blatantly disregard its directive against the advertisement of alcoholic beverages before 8pm will be dragged to court.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”YggNTLIlB9o4xECfhiWI7tISUF8NjSAO”]The Authority said it has been compelled to take the decision due to the consistent failure of a number of media houses to heed the ban.<\/p>\n
The FDA, in January 2018, said it would strictly enforce the regulations which prevent manufacturers of alcoholic products from advertising their products on radio and television between the hours of 6am and 8pm.<\/p>\n
The FDA\u2019s current guidelines for the Advertisements on Foods (Section 3.2.6) and specifically the requirements for advertisements of alcoholic beverages, states that: \u201cRadio and Television advertisements shall not be aired between the hours of 0600 am and 2000.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, lax enforcement of this regulation has seen alcoholic beverages advertised at all times of the day.<\/p>\n
Following the FDA\u2019s threat, some alcoholic beverage-producing companies have sought to get the ban reviewed.<\/p>\n
But the Public Relations Officer of the FDA, James Lartey said the Authority will not compromise on its stance and will ensure that those found culpable are dealt with according to the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere there is a guideline the FDA has come up with to regulate an industry and one goes against the guideline, a person is supposed to be fined 2,500 penalty units [GH\u00a230,000]. But we have an LI that was passed for us by Parliament and it allows us to charge a maximum of GH\u00a225,000.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Anyone who refuses to pay the amount will be prosecuted. You will be jailed a period of 5 years in addition to the fine the person refused to pay. We have written to them [erring organizations], we have written to the police. When it comes to the area of prosecution, the police will pick it up, do the investigation and the rest will follow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Regulation needed<\/strong><\/p>\n The FDA earlier stated that the ban had become necessary because of the rise in the number alcohol ads during the day enticing minors to try these beverages, and ultimately affecting their health.<\/p>\n \u201cCurrently we have looked at the level of alcohol consumption in the media, it is very bad. And I think the earlier, we bring some stringent measures the better. So we feel that this is an attempt to actually enforce that aspect of the regulation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said, for now, the FDA is targeting the traditional media outlets although they are aware other channels could be used to promote these beverages.<\/p>\n James Lartey, however, suggested that in time the Association will look at enforcing the law on these other channels, including the various social media platforms.<\/p>\n \u201cFor now we are looking at TV and radio, that is what our regulations say, TV and radio, but like I mentioned earlier, regulation is dynamic, as we go along if we realized the need to include another medium, why not we will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Jonas Nyabor\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)\u00a0 says media houses who blatantly disregard its directive against the advertisement of alcoholic beverages before 8pm will be dragged to court. [contextly_sidebar id=”YggNTLIlB9o4xECfhiWI7tISUF8NjSAO”]The Authority said it has been compelled to take the decision due to the consistent failure of a number of media houses to heed the ban. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,11],"tags":[17134,1404,3],"yoast_head":"\n