ASAS Reports On Advertising Infringments
The Singapore Code of Advertising Practice (SCAP) is a fundamental part of the system of control to promote ethical advertising in Singapore and is administered by the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS). Ethical advertising seeks to conform to industry standards of fairness, decency, honesty, and truthfulness; and to be within the framework of the laws in Singapore. It is the responsibility of advertisers, advertising agencies, and the media owner to observe SCAP prior to publishing an advertised message.
The Code is self-regulatory and compliance is vested in the ASAS Council, which meets regularly to deal with complaints raised by the general public, including the competition. The Council is also advisory to the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) on matters related to Advertising.
In the event that ASAS receives a complaint over infringement of SCAP by an erring advertiser, the complainant if he is an SAA member enjoys a 50% discount on administrative fees charged by ASAS in their complaints processing procedure. Where an unfair business practice is being advertised and uncovered, the matter is referred to CASE under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act to be dealt with.
The Council of ASAS comprises of members from SAA, 4As, AMOS, CASE, Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Environment (MOE), Ministry of Information and the Arts (MICA), Media Development Authority (MDA), Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, Health Sciences Authority, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Medical Association (SMA), Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore, Singapore Association of Pharmaceutical Industries, Broadcasters’ Association of Singapore, Direct Marketing Association of Singapore, SPH MediaWorks and MediaCorp, Singapore.
The confidentiality of discussions and decisions made by the Council is honored by SAA and reports published on this website is purely for education and general information of SAA members only. We cannot be held responsible for the reports and they can in no way be used as legal documentation for litigation purposes. They are published here for authorized reading only. Please log-in if you wish to read the reports.
For more information, visit ASAS website at: www.case.org.sg/asasintroduction.php.