The Government has confirmed it is to lay the secondary legislation for the incoming junk food advertising ban across online channels and a TV watershed. This will come into force on October 1, 2025.
In response, a spokesperson for the Advertising Association said:
“Industry is working closely with the Government and the regulators to ensure that this policy is workable from day one. It is welcome that the Government has brought forward the secondary legislation needed to give our members more certainty less than a year out from these restrictions coming into force.
As the Government’s own impact assessment makes clear, the impact of this policy in reducing the daily calorie intake of an average child will be minimal at best while potentially costing our sector millions of pounds. This will have an inevitable impact on the creative industries and wider economic growth that advertising plays a key role in driving.
We would urge the Government to look at implementing holistic policies which are proven to address the true causes of obesity like socio-economic deprivation. Public health campaigns have a key role to play in this and we look forward to discussing the positive role that advertising can play in tackling this issue with the Secretary of State.”
