Trade and Health: A control regulation on marketing promotion for infants and young children’s food and related products.

Abstract

After Thailand ratified the international standard for breast milk marketing at the 34th World Health Assembly, which resolved that each country would amend the standard for domestic law.  The intent of the law is to regulate the marketing of modified milk code so that each child will have equality in adequate nutrition.  The right to breast milk, is the most valuable and optimal diet.  This law requires parents to obtain complete information and support breastfeeding.  In order to have confidence in breastfeeding, information about milk powder for the public must be controlled, not over-advertised, or misleading that milk powder is comparable to breast milk.  Parents should not be misled by marketing and advertisement.  The law prohibits distribution of milk powder to pregnant women after delivery, or mother with a baby, because stimulation of breast milk is by baby’s sucking of mother’s breast immediately after birth.  If the milk powder is given to baby in this period, it will stop mother’s producing milk, which the mother will have to continue buying powder milk to feed the baby.  Moreover, advertising and marketing of milk powder drives the price of powder milk to be more expensive.  Families who need to buy milk powder will spend a lot more money because of the cost of advertisement.  The price of milk powder will be cheaper if it does not need to be advertised.   It is therefore appropriate to legislate this marketing promotion for infants and young children’s food control law.