WTO urged to
free up advertising services
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| She is responding to
the power of advertising |
Paris,
18 December 2002 - Business has called for the removal of a range of obstacles
to trade in advertising and related services as the Doha round of trade negotiations
enters a critical year.
With offers to free up trade
in all services due to reach the World Trade Organization by the end of March
2003, the International Chamber of Commerce reminded WTO governments of the
vital part advertising plays in stimulating demand and creating jobs.
The services negotiations
in the WTO cover a vast array of sectors besides advertising, such as tourism,
transport, telecoms, finance, computer and environmental services.
Estimating total world advertising
expenditure in 2001 at over $480 billion, the ICC Commission on Marketing and
Advertising said in a statement: "Newspapers, magazines, cable satellite,
broadcast services and Internet could not exist freely without the support of
advertising."
Urging governments to accept
more commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to
increase market access for advertising services, ICC's marketing experts listed
these impediments which it said advertisers encounter worldwide:
· Restrictions on
the importation and broadcast of foreign-produced television commercials;
· Residency requirements for advertising production professionals, or
employees of the advertising firm, when filming in some countries;
· Requirements for local participation in the production of advertising
transmitted through an electric medium;
· Requirements for local post-production work whenever foreign actors
are used in TV commercials.
· Equity limitations on foreign ownership of advertising firms;
· Requirements that host country nationals hold managerial positions
in foreign-owned advertising firms;
· Requirements that programme services carried by cable or satellite
be "local" in order to carry certain advertising;
·
Requirements for foreign advertisers to broadcast their advertisements
in the local language.
ICC statement: The liberalization of advertising services
Commission
on Marketing and Advertising
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