Food advertisement regulations being revised following criticism

The government of Maldives has decided to revise its recently published regulation on advertising food products, amid criticism from the public.

In response to north Galolhu MP Mohamed Ibrahim (Kudu)'s question during Wednesday's meeting between the parliament's committee on regulations and Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA), Deputy Health minister Ismail Zahir said businesses and embassies had also raised concerns over the regulations, which lead to the decision to amend the regulation.

“We will proceed with such possible changes to the regulation, taking into account all these factors," Zahir said.

According to the regulations enacted by MFDA in February, advertising food would be subject to the authority's approval. This led to public criticism, especially from small and home based food business owners.

Zahir said larger companies advertise food products with the necessary permissions. He also assured that no approvals were issued in violation of the general standards.

MFDA's Deputy Director General Satheesh Moosa said complaints regarding food advertisements are attended to by the authority, but that the previous version of the regulation did not outline how fines or repercussions would be implemented for violations. This led to businesses not seeking the necessary approvals, he said.

To resolve this, a letter was sent BroadCom regarding the matter, but no response was received, resulting in a pause on the efforts.

However, according to the current regulations, the first violation would result in a fine of MVR 10,000, the second violation would come with a MVR 100,000 fine while a further violation would carry a MVR 300,000 fine.

Satheesh also said inappropriate words and clothing were previously incorporated into some of the advertisements sent to the authority for approval. These included foreign advertisements dubbed in Dhivehi, he said.