The Advertisers Association of Ghana (AAG), is asking President Nana Akufo-Addo to intervene in ensuring the passage of the Advertising Council Bill.
The Bill if approved will establish the Advertising Council of Ghana, as the official government body charged with the duty of regulating advertising, registering practitioners in the industry and licensing advertising companies.
But the Association says years after it was laid before Parliament, the Bill is yet to be passed into law.
Executive Secretary of AAG, Francis Dadzie, says the long delay is not helping the industry.
“On the matter of the Advertising Bill, we have been at it since 2010 trying to get regulation into our industry. Because all over the world, every country has an Advertising Council that regulates the standards and practice of advertising, and it looks like our neighbours, Nigeria and Togo all have it but Ghana has been lacking.”
“So as an Association we have been trying to promote this bill through the Ministry of Trade. We have been at it for some time but haven’t managed to get it passed. We hope that next year we will be able to achieve the bills’ passage with the Ministry of Trade,” he added.
Advertising Association renews calls for speedy passage of Advertising bill
The Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG) is set to renew appeals for a speedy passage of the Advertising Bill.
According to the association, the passage of the Bill will give them the legal backing to prosecute advertisers who flout industry rules.
The Bill when passed, will lead to the setting up of an Advertising Council to ensure sanity in the industry.
Speaking to Citi Business News on the sidelines of the Second Africa Leadership Conference, President of the AAG, Joel Nettey said without the law, it is difficult to effectively regulate the Advertising industry.
“As it is right now, we don’t have rules and regulations. You switch on your television and you see an advertiser advertising all sorts of things in real weird times. But it goes beyond us, if there isn’t a body that will guard the advertising space and hold people in check, then really, it is an open playing field, and we can’t afford that,” he said.
The Bill was laid before the previous parliament but was not passed.