Recommendations: Adopt a unified advertising law at the BiH level

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Existing legal regulations and rules cover only certain aspects of advertising in Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly in the electronic media sector, while entire areas: public sector advertising, price discounts for advertising services, gambling, and advertising through influencer profiles on social networks, remain unregulated. These are the key findings of the report "Advertising Policies and Practices in BiH," prepared as part of the Media and Public Reputation project, implemented by the Consortium of BH Journalists Association, Mediacenter Sarajevo, Press Council in BiH, and JaBiHEU, and funded by the European Union.

The report provides an overview of advertising industry laws and practices in BiH, an analysis of this area in EU countries and our region, and offers recommendations for long-term solutions in the advertising sector with the aim of strengthening it, ensuring lasting financial stability, institutional transparency, and preventing the misuse of public funds for political promotion, media clientelism, and economic pressure on the media.

One of the report's recommendations is the development of an Advertising Law at the BiH level and a joint approach by the advertising industry and media towards an audience measurement system, in order to create preconditions for the development of the advertising market and strengthen the media industry as a whole. It also proposes improving legal and (self)regulatory measures that will ensure the availability of information in the field of advertising and public procurement, and strengthen the reputation and strength of the advertising market in BiH.

The report will be presented at the conference "Regulating the Advertising Market" on June 21st at the EU Delegation building in Sarajevo, reports the Patria agency.