2023-06-23 19:00:04
The Federal Consumer Protection Law establishes the general rules that the advertising of all products and services must comply with.
Under the current statute, advertising in traditional channels for products such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, beverages, and tobacco must meet specific requirements.
One of the problems is that there is still no real regulation in digital media such as social networks.
Misleading food and beverage advertising is a serious issue because it has a direct impact on health. The most serious point is when digital channels such as social networks are used because there is completely no real regulation. In fact, more and more companies use influencers and content creators to promote their products without any restriction from the authority.
Currently, there are several legal provisions that limit the types of goods and services that can be the subject of specific advertising or marketing campaigns. This includes those that are subject to sanitary control by the authorities and, in some cases, by the Federal Consumer Attorney’s Office.
He Regulations of the General Health Law on Advertising It is the device that regulates the advertising of goods and services subject to sanitary control. Its regulations establish which products are subject to permits, authorizations and compliance with certain requirements.
Who regulates food and beverage advertising?
For her part, the Federal Law for Protection of the Consumer establishes the general rules that the advertising of all products and services must comply with. In recent years, the regulation of said law has focused on the restriction of food, beverages, supplements, tobacco and nicotine products, as well as cosmetics.
In accordance with Jose Alberto CamposPartner of the Life Sciences Practice Area, from the Sánchez Devanny law firm, “what we are seeing is that no legal provision restricts content on social networks, and for this reason, the authority maintains a discussion and analysis on regulation proposals , which, even in their preliminary stage, appear to be difficult to implement and potentially contrary to Mexican law.
Change proposals submitted
One of the most recent proposals to regulate these activities was presented in early 2021 and focused on the potential risks associated with the advertising of restricted or controlled goods and services related to particular health and medical topics, and not on the General law of healthits regulations, the Consumer Protection Law or in any legal provision regarding advertising or health control.
In essence, it proposes reforms to the Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law to force social network providers to block, cancel, suspend and prohibit the transmission of accounts or people who use their platforms to promote certain products or services.
Likewise, it requires them to obtain specific authorizations, which will be available to the Mexican population, based on certain criteria (not defined), and to present their policies and internal regulatory mechanisms to the Mexican telecommunications authorities, in order to obtain said authorizations. In addition, it plans to establish specialized departments to analyze possible human rights violations before the suspension or cancellation of an account or channel.
These preliminary concepts could be considered contrary, among other things, to the constitutional freedom of expression, freedom of enterprise, legality and non-extraterritorial application of the law. Under the proposal, social media providers would monitor compliance with legal provisions with respect to most legal matters in Mexico.
Under the current statute, advertising (in traditional channels) for products such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, beverages, and tobacco must meet specific requirements. Under the proposal, a person or entity other than a formal authority would be required to determine the validity or legality of advertising on social media, which is currently unregulated.
For this reason, it will be important that the authorities, particularly those in charge of human, animal and plant health, carry out an in-depth analysis of the legal requirements that said regulation must include, to ensure that people, animals and plant health are adequately protected, in addition to avoiding express violations of constitutional and human rights principles that make such a legal provision useless.
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