Czech Republic

This page contains information on statutory alcohol marketing
regulations in the Czech Republic (table 1); a description of the
restrictions per medium (table 2); labelling information (table 3); information on non-statutory alcohol marketing regulations the complaints procedure (table 4);
the complaints procedure; and lastly a summary about the Czech regulations on alcohol marketing, including exhaustive, downloadable documents from the ELSA & FASE research projects.

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Complaints procedure

Act No. 40/1995 Coll., on the Regulation of Advertisement, statutory:
Complaints can be made to:
– The Czech Advertising Standards Council
– The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting
– Regional trade licence offices

The possibility of complaining is made known to the public by the Media.

Sanctions, where appropriate, are imposed by:
– The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (GOV)
– Regional trade licence offices.

Sanctions can be a fine of €70.000 – €300.000. The results of procedures are publicly announced by a press announcement. The minimum and maximum amount of time the procedure officially takes is usually 30 days, occasionally longer.

Act. No. 231/2001 Coll., on TV and Radio Broadcasting, statutory:
Complaints can be made to:
– The Czech Advertising Standards Council (http://www.rpr.cz/cz/en.php).
– The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (http://www.rpr.cz/cz/en.php).

The possibility of complaining is announced by the Media. Sanctions, where appropriate, are imposed by the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (GOV) and can be a fine with a range between €70.000 – €300.000. The results of procedures are publicly announced by a press announcement. The minimum and maximum amount of time the procedure officially takes is usually 30 days, occasionally longer.

Act on Protection against harm done by addictive substances, statutory:
Complaints can be made to the police. During a procedure a marketing practice can still be used. The possibility of complaining about the ill enforcement of the law is a standard procedure within the Czech legalitive system. This is defined by the Collections of law of the Czech Republic. Sanctions, where appropriate, are imposed by police officials or the relevant court and can be a fine up to € 100 or up to one year imprisonment. The minimum and maximum amount of time the procedure officially may range from instant (a fine issued by a police officer) up to years (judicial process).

Code of Advertising practice, non-statutory:
Complaints can be made to the Czech Advertising Standards Council (more information can be found at http://www.rpr.cz), the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (more information can be found at http://www.rrtv.cz/en/). During a procedure a marketing practice can still be used. The possibility of complaining is announced through the media. Sanctions, where appropriate, are imposed by the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (GOV) and can be a fine of €70.000 – €300.000. The results of procedures are publicly announced by a press announcement. The minimum and maximum amount of time the procedure officially takes is usually 30 days, exceptionally even longer.

Click here to show more detailed information about the alcohol marketing regulations in this country>>

In the Czech Republic, five different regulation mechanisms exist, which relate to the advertising and marketing of alcoholic beverages. Three of them are statutory – Act No. 40/1995 Coll., on the Regulation of Advertisement, Act No. 231/2001 Coll., on TV and Radio Broadcasting and Act No. 37/1989 Coll., on the Protection against Alcoholism and other Toxicomanias, the remaining two are non-statutory Self-regulations: Code of Practice of the Association of Alcohol Producers and Code of Advertising Practice of the Czech Advertising Standards Council.

To understand the situation in the Czech Republic, it is necessary to mention, that before 1989 there were no privately owned companies in the CR; the sole owner of all business organizations was the state. Advertising and product marketing were quite insignificant, only of secondary nature. After the political changes in 1989, a lavish boom of advertising and promotional activities took place, in principle without any restrictions. The free market and strongly expanding availability of alcoholic beverages together with their massive and aggressive advertisement and promotion led to the increase in alcohol consumption especially among adolescents.

Regulations related to alcohol were not particularly strong in the CR. However, after the Czech Republic joined the European Union, they were harmonised with EU legislation. Nevertheless, provisions regulating advertisement and promotion of alcohol remain unsatisfactory.

Non-statutory codes declare in principle the intention of alcohol producers and the advertising industry to voluntarily follow the policy to not target children and youth. However, taking into account the fact that Czech football Extra-league officially bears the name “Gambrinus” (popular beer brand), it is obvious that this official declaration of intentions may not always translate into serious actions.

The following document contains an in depth overview of alcohol marketing regulations in the Czech Republic: alcohol-marketing-regulations_czech_republic.pdf

For even more (but older) information on alcohol marketing regulations in the Czech Republic, please take a look at the Czech Republic’s appendix to the 2007 ELSA (Enforcement of national Laws and Self-regulation on advertising and marketing of Alcohol) report.

Table 1	Statutory Alcohol marketing regulations in Czech Republic	Coverage
	Law No. 138/2002 Coll., on regulation of advertising, providing TV and radio broadcasting	TV, radio, cinema, internet/digital media, outdoor, print
	Act No. 40/1995 Coll., on the Regulation of Advertisement	Commercials for alcoholic beverages
	Act. No 379/2005 Coll. On protection against harm done by tobacco products, alcohol and other addictive substances	Alcoholic beverages
	Law 132/2010 Coll. on Audiovisual Media Services on Demand	Act that implements the AVMSD: Audiovisual commercial communications for alcoholic beverages shall not be aimed at minors and may not encourage immoderate consumption of such beverages.

Table 2 Statutory regulations per medium	Type of statutory restrictions
TV	Advertising for alcoholic beverages must not: (a) encourage abusive use of alcoholic beverages or negatively or ironically evaluate abstinence or restraint; (b) be aimed at persons under the age of 18, in particular those persons who, under the age of 18, may not appear on consumption of alcoholic beverages or use elements, means or actions addressed by persons under 18 (c) combine alcohol consumption with increased performance, or be used in connection with driving (d) create the impression that alcohol consumption contributes to social or sexual success, (e) claim that alcohol in a beverage has therapeutic properties or a stimulating or soothing effect, or that it is a means of addressing personal problems, (f) emphasize the alcohol content as a positive characteristic of the drink.
	Youth protection policy: Advertising for alcoholic beverages, including beer, must not be aimed at persons under 18 years of age (article 3.1 The Code of Advertising practice), must not be broadcasted before, during, or immediately after TV and radio shows for children (article 3.2 The Code of Advertising practice) and advertising must not promote alcoholic beverages in media, radio and TV programmes or during events where more than 30 percent of the target audience is known to be minors (article 3.3 The Code of Advertising practice)
	Subliminal messaging prohibited
	Content restrictions in relation to driving, hazardous activity and health aspects
Radio	Youth protection policy
Radio	Content restrictions
Outdoor marketing	None
Printed media	None
Cinema	None
Internet/digital media	None
Promotional items	None
(Sports) sponsorship	None