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This
page was last updated on 19 August 2005.
Please
keep writing to the companies concerned (background information,
contact details and suggested letters are given on the action
sheet). Please forward any responses you receive to us,
even if they are the same as the ones given here.
Responses
are awaited to:
See below for responses to:
UK
retailers in breach of the law
Background:
Baby
Milk Action is coordinating a monitoring project in the UK
on behalf of the Baby
Feeding Law Group, consisting
of 16 health worker organisations, representing over half
a million health workers. This is part of the campaign to
have the UK law brought into line with the International
Code and Resolutions. See Update
35 for details of how to support this campaign.
Monitoring shows widespread violations
of the Code and Resolutions and repeated illegal promotion
of infant formula in breach of the UK Infant Formula
and Follow-on Formula Regulations 1995 by supermarkets.
The suggested letter to the supermarkets was as follows:
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I have
seen news claiming that your company has been reported
to Trading Standards repeatedly for promoting infant
formula in breach of the Infant
Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations (1995).
As it appears any action taken by Trading Standards
has been insufficient to persuade you to stop such
promotions, I wish to add my voice to those calling
on you to respect the law.
As you
should know you are also required to abide by the International
Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and
subsequent, relevant Resolutions of the World Health
Assembly. Article
11.3 of the Code states:
"Independently
of any other measures taken for implementation
of this Code, manufacturers and distributors
of products within the scope of this Code should
regard themselves as responsible for monitoring
their marketing practices according to the principles
and aim of this Code, and for taking steps to
ensure that their conduct at every level conforms
to them.”
Your
company violates the Code systematically with its
promotions of follow-on milks. Can you explain
why you feel you can disregard your responsibilities
under Article 11.3?
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Campaign supporters have forwarded responses
from the following supermarkets which are analysed below:
All companies
fail to state they will take action to stop illegal promotion
of infant formula and all indicate they
will continue to violate the International Code by promoting
follow-on formula. As UNICEF has said of the Code (see
below): "[the principle of] the scope including
all breastmilk substitutes, cannot be overemphasised given
the tendency of the infant feeding industry to attempt
to limit the application of the Code."
These responses do suggest that the supermarkets will
continue to put their own profits before infant health
and mothers' rights until the International Code and Resolutions
are implemented fully in UK legislation and prosecutions
are brought against malpractice.
ASDA
will take no action
ASDA's Trading
Standards Office has "never heard of the Code" despite
the fact that ASDA has to abide by it under the terms
of Article
11.3.
The response
ignores
the two
requests
made
by
campaigners
suggesting management intend to take no action to
stop recurring illegal promotion of infant formula nor
to
stop promotion
of follow-on milks in violation of the Code.
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Dear
*****,
Thank you for taking the time and trouble
to email me.
I have passed on your comments on to the
Trading Standards Manager in the Corporate
Responsibility Department and he has stated
the following;
I've never heard of the Code referred to.
It has no legal standing. The Regulations
(Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations
1995) prohibit promotion of first milk. They
do not prohibit promotion of follow on milk.
I hope this has cleared up any confusion
for you, once again thank you for your comments.
Yours Sincerely
K Hutchison
Customer Relations
Kathryn.Hutchinson@asda.co.uk
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Boots
will take no action
Boots claims
that it complies with the UK Law despite repeated complaints
to Trading Standards about illegal promotion of infant
formula. Baby Milk Action knows that Boots has been warned
about illegal activity in the past, yet the monitoring
evidence show such violations recur.
Boots claims to be aware of its obligations under the
Code as well as the Law then falsely claims that
follow-on milks
are not breastmilk substitutes and so not covered by
the Code. As UNICEF's
Legal Officer said at the
European Parliament
Public Hearing into baby food marketing malpractice in
November 2000:
"The
Code applies to ALL BREASTMILK SUBSTITUTES and related
products, which include feeding bottles and teats.
The Code is not limited to basic infant formula intended
for
healthy babies born after nine months of gestation
and with adequate weight and length for age as many
companies
would argue. The Code covers special formulae such
as those for premature infants, hypoallergenic formulae,
lactose
free formulae and follow-on formulae...[the principle
of] the scope including all breastmilk substitutes,
cannot
be overemphasised given the tendency of the infant
feeding industry to attempt to limit the application
of the Code."
Boots clearly demonstrates this 'tendency'.
The response
ignores the two requests made by campaigners suggesting
management intend to take no action to stop recurring
illegal promotion of infant formula nor to stop promotion
of follow-on milks in violation of the Code.
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Thank
you for emailing us. If you need to contact
us again, please quote your customer reference
number *****
Boots takes its responsibilities under
UK and European legislation seriously.
It complies
with the requirements of the Follow-on
Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula
Regulations
and endeavours at all times to ensure that
the marketing of infant formula is in accordance
with that law and that of the World Health
Authority Code.
We endeavour to ensure that our marketing
complies with those requirements at all
times and we are aware of our obligations
under
both the law and the Code.
Your letter refers to promotions of follow-on
milks. These are not controlled in
the same way and are allowed to be
promoted
by both
the Code and the Regulations. Follow-on
milks are not breast milk substitutes
and as such
do not fall within the requirements
of those Codes.
I hope this satisfactorily answers
the questions that you raise in your
letter.
Thank you again for contacting us.
Kind regards,
Claire Singlehurst
Customer Manager
Boots Customer Care
PO Box 5300
Nottingham
NG90 1AA |
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Tesco
will take no action
Tesco acknowledges
that promotion of first and second baby milk (infant
formula) is illegal, but does not say it will take any
action to stop the recurring promotions of these products
in its stores.
Tesco
ignores the ban on promotion of follow-on milks contained
in the Code and falsely claims that these products
can be both
promoted and demonstrated in store.
In
a separate and somewhat bizarre response Tesco directs
customers to Baby Milk Action's own publication Look
What They're Doing in the UK. Why it should do this,
when the publication makes it clear that promotion of
infant formula is illegal and promotion of follow-on
formula breaches World Health Assembly measures, is not
yet known. It would be welcome if Tesco acted to stop
the sort of malpractice exposed in the publication in
its own stores.
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Thank
you for your email.
Promotion on first and second Baby Milks
is illegal as we support the government
'breast-is-best' policy.
However promoting follow on milk is not
illegal so this can be promoted and demonstrate
in store.
If the supplier is also drawing attention
to the first and second milk products they
should be re-iterating government guidelines
that they don't recommend a diet of soley
Baby Milk formula to a Baby less than 6
months old
If you have any further queries please
do not hesitate to contact us at customer.service@tesco.co.uk quoting ****.
Regards
Gillian Stewart
Tesco Customer Service
Thank
you for your email. I do apologise for the
delay in responding to your email. I have
received a response from our research team
with regards to your mail. For further information
please can I forward you to: http://www.ibfan.org/english/pdfs/lwtduk04.pdf
The law does not allow first infant milk
to be promoted.
We
would like to ask you a few questions about
the recent e-mail
communication you or someone in
your household has had
with a representative from Tesco. If
you would like to participate in this survey
please complete the attached. Your views
are extremely important to us.
If you have any further queries please
do not hesitate to contact us at customer.service@tesco.co.uk quoting ****.
Regards Helen Bowie
Tesco Customer Service |
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Sainsbury
will take no action
Sainsbury was
given credit for apparently already taking action to
stop illegal infant formula promotion. It was suggested
that campaigners amend the above letter to say:
" I
have seen news claiming that your company has been
reported to Trading Standards for promoting infant
formula in breach
of the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations
(1995). You have been credited by campaigners with stopping
such promotion and I would be grateful for further details
of the systems you have put in place." [then
the comments on the International Code and Resolutions].
Sainsbury's
reply does not address this request. Regarding the Code,
Sainsbury's falsely claims that the company
is "allowed
to promote all baby milk except the First and Second
Milk formulas." This ignores the company's
responsibilities under Article
11.3 of the International
Code.
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Dear
****,
Thank
you for your e-mail regarding Infant Formula
and Follow-on Formula
Regulations (1995).
I
have checked with the appropriate department
and have been advised that we
are allowed to promote all baby milk
except the First and Second Milk
formulas.
I
realise that this may not be the reply
you were expecting but I am unable
to answer otherwise in the circumstances.
Kind regards,
Margaret Cocking
Sainsbury's Customer Services |
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