SDC: Stakeholders seek clarity on food & health category from MIB
They have also requested the ministry not to make it mandatory for advertisers to provide SDCs to media organisations and agencies for publishing ads, said sources
Industry stakeholders met officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday to further discuss the finer details of the self-declaration certificate (SDC) mandate for ads on various mediums.
The industry players requested the MIB to specify the precise definition for food & health category to avoid any confusion. They also requested the ministry not to make it mandatory for advertisers to provide the SDC to media organisations and agencies for publishing an ad, said sources who attended the meeting.
However, the issue of the process of filing the self-declaration certificates being cumbersome for small-scale publishers or advertisers has still not found a solution, said sources
“The meeting happened in a very calm and peaceful manner. The MIB has said they will communicate the minor issues that still persist to the Supreme Court and get back to us,” shared an industry insider who attended the meeting.
As of now, the MIB has ascertained what falls into the health and category. They will be discussing a singular portal for uploading SDC in further meetings. More technological issues like programmatic will be discussed with amicus curiae.
On July 9, a bench of the Supreme Court directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to submit an affidavit within the next three weeks, incorporating the recommendations on the 'self-declaration certificate' mandate.
During the hearing, MIB presented a suggestion, requesting to make one portal for uploading SDCs rather than having two different ones.
The SDC mandate was ordered by Supreme Court on May 7 while hearing the misleading ad's case of Patanjali. In accordance with the court order, the MIB on June 3 mandated the requirement of self-declaration from all advertisements to be published on June 18 onwards.
