Broadcasting Act, 1990

Codes of practice relating to advertising and other commercial promotions.

4.—(1) The Minister shall draw up and may amend, from time to time as he thinks proper, codes governing standards, practice and prohibitions in advertising, sponsorship or other forms of commercial promotion in broadcasting services and the Authority, every sound broadcasting contractor and the television programme service contractor shall comply with every such code in relation to its broadcasting services.

(2) A code under subsection (1) relating to the Authority may provide for the extent to which the Authority's promotion of its own commercial activities within its own broadcasting services is to be treated as advertising for the purposes of section 3 and a code relating to a sound broadcasting contractor or television programme service contractor may provide for the extent to which that contractor's promotion of its own commercial activities within its own broadcasting services is to be so treated for the purposes of section 10 (4) of the Radio and Television Act, 1988 .

(3) The Minister shall consult the Authority and the Independent Radio and Television Commission in drawing up or amending a code under subsection (1).

(4) Pending the drawing up of a code under subsection (1) the Authority and the Independent Radio and Television Commission shall continue to apply their codes for the time being in force governing standards, practice and prohibitions in broadcast advertising.

(5) A code drawn up under subsection (1), in relation to the broadcasting services of the Authority, sound broadcasting contractors or the television programme service contractor, shall supersede any existing code under section 18B (1) (e) of the Principal Act (inserted by section 4 of the Act of 1976) or under section 10 (2) of the Radio and Television Act, 1988 , in relation to such services.

(6) The references to section 10 (2) (which relates to codes of standards) of the Radio and Television Act, 1988 , in section 10 (6) or section 11 (4) (a) (iv) of that Act shall be construed as including reference to a code under subsection (1) of this section.