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New rules leave ad agencies out in the cold
The recently drafted amendments to a 2002 resolution on outdoor advertising activities in Ho Chi Minh City have made conditions even more unfavorable for advertising agencies, representatives of the industry have said.
In September 2002 the municipal People’s Committee issued Resolution 108 in an attempt to reorganize outdoor advertising activities in the city.
The resolution, however, had many points that did not reflect the reality on the ground, according to Nguyen Quy Cap, Chairman of the HCMC Advertising Association.
As a result about 80 percent of billboards in the city had violated the rules set by the resolution, he says.
“But instead of resolving the unreasonable points, the amended draft tightened [advertising activities] even further,” he complains.
For example, the draft stipulates that advertisements will be banned from traffic circles, crossroads, bridgeheads and building roofs. It also says the building of new billboards in the inner city will be restricted.
An advertising agency, who wished to remain anonymous, says the draft only focuses on what agencies are not allowed to do and the paperwork they have to fill out. Meanwhile the rights of advertising agencies and favorable conditions to help develop the advertising industry are not stated clearly.
The procedural requirements are not made simpler by the draft either. The businesses are still required to seek permission from district administrations, the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism as well as government agencies responsible for monitoring the advertised products.
Nguyen Chi Kien, director of the C.M.N Advertising Service Company, says government officials often decide to grant licenses or not by using their own subjective judgments.
Moreover, the draft states that advertising licenses are valid for up to one year, compared to three years under a 2003 government decree.
The Cac Vi Sao Advertising Company says advertising agencies are busy with obtaining and renewing licenses all year round and are unwilling to spend a lot of money to build beautiful billboards as the licenses will expire soon.
Businesses said zoning plans for the construction of billboards have been created by district administrations without seeking the opinion of any advertising agency.
“I don’t know what criteria the zoning authorities have used to arrange two or three locations on a street where billboards are permitted to be placed”, a representative of Pacific Advertising Company says.
The amendment draft says advertising licenses must be granted in accordance with the zoning plans of the city districts but it is impractical, Cap feels.
Not all districts in the city have created zoning plans and some zoning regulations are even illogical, he explains.
The draft states that districts will outline their own zoning plans first and then the city People’s Committee will use them to develop a comprehensive plan for placing billboards in the whole city, but the steps should actually be taken in reverse order, he says.
Thanhnien
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