Revised law expected to curb false advertising

The newly revised consumer rights law will help protect consumers from false advertisement, especially those of food and medicine, said a senior official with the China Consumers' Association (CCA) on Thursday.

The law on consumer rights and interests, revised by China's top legislature last week, requires advertising companies and media to bear joint liability with advertisers if they make or publish false advertisements that are related to people's safety and health.

The revision will force media to be more responsible when selecting advertisers, said Chen Jian, head of the CCA's research division, in an interview with Xinhua.

"In our experience of handling complaints, many consumers said they believed false advertisements because they were published in newspapers or on TV, often in renowned titles or programs," Chen said.

The law also requires organizations or individuals to bear joint liability if they endorse false or substandard products related to people's safety and health.

Endorsing this aspect of the law, Chen noted, "There have been quite a few controversial cases in which a celebrity had endorsed a substandard product but got away without punishment."

Although some argue that such regulations may be too tough due to the difficulty of advertising firms, media and celebrities knowing the nature of the products they advertise, Chen said it is is very important to have these legal regulations.

"The revised law will give consumers more leverage in claiming their rights and force all parties of interest to be more careful," she said.

The number of complaints about false advertisement received by the CCA increased annually from 2009 to 2011 and a majority of them were about dietary supplements, cosmetics and medicine, according to the senior official.

In 2012, the CCA changed the methodologies of its complaint registration so the figure can not be compared with previous years, but the tendency remained, she said.

Shi Hong, a senior official with the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, told Xinhua that most lawmakers asked for tough regulations against false advertisement during the readings of the bill.

Qiu Baochang, a Beijing-based lawyer, agreed that the revised consumer rights law will help curb false advertisement but also suggested that the article, now only covering advertisement related to life and health, should be expanded.

As a follow-up, the advertisement law should be revised, Qiu added.