13. Cross-border advertising

13. Cross-border advertising

The Advertising Code Authority is affiliated to the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) at Brussels.

EASA objectives include ensuring that complaints about advertisements are handled swiftly and effectively. To realize this target EASA established the cross-border complaint submission procedure. By definition, a complaint involving cross-border advertising is one submitted by an individual or organization about an advertisement which appears in the Netherlands but originates in another country.

A complaint involving cross-border advertising shall be submitted in writing or via the electronic complaint form to the secretariat of the  ACA. If possible, the advertisement and any other information on which the complaint is based shall also be submitted. See chapter 5 for  the requirements for lodging a complaint. The chairman of the Advertising Code Committee determines whether the complaint concerns cross-border advertising and should this be the case, and he finds no grounds for handling the complaint himself, it is referred to the EASA member, which is responsible for further examination and handling of the complaint. Should the complaint subsequently be handled, the rules of the EASA-member apply. Complainant is informed by the secretariat of the ACA on the further development of the procedure.