Culture ministry proposes increasing TV advertising time

TV stations now have stringent limits on how long they can air commercials in a day.

Except on shopping channels, advertisements should not exceed 10% of broadcast time. For pay TV channels the limit is 5%.

Feature films cannot be interrupted more than twice for commercials, each not exceeding five minutes.

Entertainment programs cannot be interrupted more than four times.

News, live programs on special political events and celebrations of major national holidays cannot carry ads.

But the ministry wants to loosen these regulations, and the amendments to the Law on Advertising are being finalized by the Ministry of Justice and are expected to be submitted to the Government in October this year and the National Assembly next year.

The culture ministry has also proposed increasing accountability for advertisers to protect consumers, oversight of cross-border advertising activities and amending regulations on advertising with foreign elements.

There is currently no mechanism to effectively regulate cross-border advertising.