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A new version of the law "On advertising" has come into force in Azerbaijan. This document has been discussed for some time and, as its drafters promised, its purpose is to eliminate elements of chaos and lack of control that have been evident in the country's advertising market. And, indeed, many things that bother consumers, for example tiresome SMS messages, advertisements for alcoholic beverages, respect for the norms of the state language, and so on, have been clearly spelt out in the law. However, today experts are pointing out the need to tighten control over the fulfilment of all the instructions in the new version of the document. 

It has to be said that interest in this law when it was being drawn up was quite high - many ministries and departments voiced their proposals and comments and there was vigorous debate among marketing experts and PR specialists. The outcome, as the experts themselves said, turned out to be quite good and the document embodied all the current contentious issues in the sphere of advertising. The law "On advertising" is a serious contribution to the development of economic relations in Azerbaijan, the chairman of the Committee for Economic Policy of Azerbaijan's Milli Maclis, Ziyad Samadzada, believes, noting the importance of this document in the context of strengthening the atmosphere of healthy competition and the development of economic relations in Azerbaijan.

In the opinion of Ali Hasanov, the Azerbaijani president's assistant on socio-political questions, international practices were taken into account when drawing up this document and many new things associated with the state regulation in the sphere of production and the spread of advertising were also reflected in it. "The draft law should contribute not only to the development of the country's advertising market but also raise interest among local and foreign companies in the advertising market, prevent unfounded interference in the work of advertising companies and preclude the possibility of severe financial sanctions, red tape and bureaucratic hurdles and many other negative things being imposed," Hasanov said.

For example, in the new version there has been a tightening up of the requirements on copyright and false, inaccurate and hidden advertising and rejection of advertising. It clearly states that an advertisement should observe all the regulations of the law "On the state language", in particular, at the wish of the advertiser, the use of a foreign language in an advertisement is permissible only if it is accompanied by the same text in Azerbaijani and it does not take up more than one third of the advertisement.

In addition, the concepts about social and sponsor advertising have been broadened and the special features of advertising various commodities, the advertising media and state supervision and self-regulation in the sphere of advertising have been designated. For example, all advertising distributors will have to allot at least 8 per cent of their advertising time and space to social advertisements. It should be mentioned that in the previous law this figure was 5 per cent. Besides this, a precise time has been established for social advertisements on television channels - from 0900 to 2400. According to one of the drafters of the law, Milli Maclis deputy Vahid Ahmadov, "social advertisements are often broadcast late at night. There is not much interest in a social advertisement that is broadcast during the night. Taking into account the interests of the television and radio companies, the law also points out that the time allotted for social advertising has not been included in the overall advertising traffic. I believe that these articles in the law will avoid a clash of interest between the social advertisers and the distributors".

The clauses in the law relating to the prevention of a harmful influence of an advertisement on under-age children may also be included among social measures. For example, the promotion of aggression or hatred in relation to parents and other persons, destructive habits, and also "implanting the idea that parents are able to acquire an item of goods irrespective of their material situation by using emphatic language". In short, the use of any elements contributing to disturbing the physical or psychological equilibrium of children and adolescents in an advertisement is forbidden. Another positive solution was the ban on including advertisements in manuals, school textbooks, diaries, workbooks, albums and other books for adolescents.

The law on the activities of telecommunications operators and providers, whose tiresome SMS advertising messages have rather annoyed subscribers recently, was covered in depth. As the document says, henceforth operators may distribute an advertisement to subscribers individually only if the question of sending the advertisement has been agreed in the contract. If the subscriber does not agree or if an advertisement is sent contradictory to the law the telecommunications operator and the provider will bear the responsibility.

Another ban affects the posting of advertising billboards during the presentation of films or shows, but we would like to emphasize that this does not apply to the showing of advertising trailers before a film or the placing of advertising stands in the foyers of cinemas or theatres.

Besides this, in studying the negative and positive impact of advertising on television and radio audiences, the question of the frequency of their broadcasting was considered. "In this connection a working group held consultations with experts and ministries and an appropriate slot was established for showing advertisements and to prevent negative influences on the mind." One of the new aspects of the draft law is a time restriction on the advertising of gambling and sport. Thus, taking into account the impact on the mind of the audience, especially young people, the broadcasting time for such advertisements has been restricted to from 2300 to 0700.

Unlike the previous draft, a new approach has been applied to the advertising of alcoholic beverages. In the new law a restriction has been imposed on the time for advertisements of alcoholic beverages with a strength of over 5 per cent (from 0700 to 2300), and a ban has also been imposed on their advertising on the front cover and back of periodicals. In addition, when advertising alcoholic beverages it is forbidden to shape people's opinion that their consumption will lead to an enhancement of a person's social status, improve their physical or emotional state or lead to health benefits. In an advertisement it is forbidden to reproach people who do not consume alcohol or to say that the stronger the alcohol the higher quality the drink. The impermissibility of interrupting children's or religious programmes for such advertisements is particularly noted. 

Another, more specific ban has been imposed on the advertising of tobacco, tobacco products and even related items such as e-cigarettes, hookahs, cigarette lighters, and so on. However this caused different reactions among the experts, and even during the debates on the draft bill in parliament views were expressed that a similar complete ban should have been imposed on all alcoholic products. "Can alcohol really be less harmful than tobacco products?" the supporters of this version argued.

Meanwhile, Ahmadov said the reason for the decision of the drafters of the law was the fact that alcoholic products of varying strength are also produced in Azerbaijan. "In world practice this factor (the strength of a beverage) plays a key role in its advertising. The majority of companies that manufacture such products sponsor sports events and are advertisers. On the other hand, it is virtually impossible to impose restrictions in global telecommunications. Besides, it does not yield the desired result, and so we can ease our producer from the advertising market. Therefore we consider an approach to this question on the experience of the law of these countries to be more correct," Ahmadov stressed.

Another sensitive article in the law concerns the advertising of medicines. According to the document, only medicines and medical equipment, the use and application of which has not been banned by the relevant executive power body, as well as treatment, prophylactic, diagnostic and rehabilitation methods provided without a prescription and certified by the relevant executive power body may be advertised in Azerbaijan. If the taking of medicines and the use of medical equipment has a side effect, then this must be indicated in the advertisement, and the need to consult a doctor must also be pointed out. It is not permitted in an advertisement to create an impression among a healthy person of the need to use the advertised medicine. Information about medicines that require special preparation and medical equipment must be distributed only in publications specializing in medicinal matters and at events carried out for medical workers and pharmacologists. It is categorically forbidden to advertise medical services for the artificial termination of pregnancy and artificial conception.

We should point out that up to now even the Ministry of Health has expressed dissatisfaction at the chaos in this sphere. It is no secret, for example, that medical preparations that have not been licensed by the Health Ministry are sometimes advertised on local television channels. In addition, private clinics invite various doctors from other countries, they appear on television and advertise their services and technology, and later it is revealed that they are not of the same standard and quality as depicted in the advertisement. President Ilham Aliyev has commented quite sharply about the dishonesty of a number of entrepreneurs dealing in the pharmaceutical business. "Medicine means people's lives and their health. The people who are committing offences in this field are unscrupulous," the head of state noted. The hope is that with the adoption of the law "On advertising" a new opportunity will have emerged to tighten control in this sphere.

Frankly speaking, as one reads through these and other articles of the new version of the law "On advertising", one gets the impression that for the most part it consists of various kinds of bans. However, up to now there has been no single state structure in Azerbaijan to monitor this sphere. In other words, some experts are worried that despite the improvement in previous demands on the advertising market and the introduction of tough restrictive frameworks on many points, these instructions are still being carried out only on paper.

Haciami Atakisiyev, President of the Azerbaijani Advertisers Union, on the other hand, believes that the main improvement that will appear in the country thanks to the adoption of the new law "On advertising" will be the demarcation of the functions of control over the advertising market. Whereas in the past these functions were entrusted exclusively to the government authorities, now they will be divided between the state and, it may be said, the principal participants in the industry. In other words, there will be a new form of regulating advertising activity - so-called branch self-regulation, which is the main form of non-state regulation of advertising activity and is broadly applied in the advertising markets of the world's developed countries. "The market must be monitored everywhere - not just in the capital, but all over the country. It is obvious that the government institutions do not have sufficient personnel to monitor the market, expose violations promptly, and so on. That is why branch self-regulation could prove to be an additional regulating instrument on the advertising market," he said.

In the opinion of an expert in the field of PR, Afat Yaqubova, the creation of a major government institution in the sphere of monitoring the advertising market would be inadvisable. It would be much more effective, she believes, to equip the law with additional explanatory notes, clearly defining the limits of permissibility for advertisements and the time, place and language of their broadcasting. And with precise monitoring of the situation by independent experts or monitoring groups the situation could be rectified in a fairly short time.