APEC Project Database

Project Title

Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) on policies and good practices related to influencers advertising in order to prevent harm to consumers and improve competition

Project Year

2023

Project Number

CTI_208_2023A

Project Session

Session 2

Project Type

Standard

Project Status

Completed Project

Project No.

CTI_208_2023A

Project Title

Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) on policies and good practices related to influencers advertising in order to prevent harm to consumers and improve competition

Project Status

Completed Project

Fund Account

APEC Support Fund

Sub-fund

ASF: Digital Innovation

Project Year

2023

Project Session

Session 2

APEC Funding

104,999

Co-funding Amount

25,250

Total Project Value

130,249

Sponsoring Forum

Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI)

Topics

Trade Facilitation; Competition Policy

Committee

Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI)

Other Fora Involved

Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved

Proposing Economy(ies)

Peru

Co-Sponsoring Economies

Australia; Canada; Chile; China; Indonesia; Malaysia; Mexico; Philippines; Singapore; United States

Expected Start Date

01/12/2023

Expected Completion Date

30/01/2025

Project Proponent Name 1

Abelardo ARAMAYO

Job Title 1

Organization 1

The National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) of Peru

Telephone 1

+51 224 7777 (ext 2500)

Email 1

aaramayo@indecopi.gob.pe

Project Proponent Name 2

Rosa Giles

Job Title 2

Legal Officer

Organization 2

INDECOPI

Telephone 2

Not Applicable

Email 2

rgiles@indecopi. gob.pe

Declaration

Abelardo ARAMAYO

Project Summary

Influencers advertising is increasingly important and attracts attention of policy makers and specialists in competition, advertising and consumer protection. In that context, the Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) looks to address the challenges faced by APEC economies related to influencers advertising, such as information that can be misleading, the lack of disclosure of sponsored content, advertising that can harm children, among others. This PPD seeks to propose best practices on influencers advertising standards for the benefit of consumer protection and competition policies, specifically in accounting the challenges mentioned above. The PPD will be basis for developing a Best practices document on influencers advertising measures and good practices. The PPD will be held at the margins of SOM 3 2024 in Peru.

Relevance

Benefits to Region

Influencer marketing has become a popular choice for advertisers, granting them the ability to affect consumer opinions, preferences, and purchasing decisions. However, we have noticed some main issues related to influencers advertising that impact on APEC Economies, such as the following:

?False or misleading advertising

?Advertising that can harm children

?Lack of proper disclosure of sponsored content

?Non-compliance with sector-specific regulations

?Advertising that incites illegal acts or discrimination

?Advertising of dangerous products or products with no quality standards

?Determination of the legal responsibility of influencers

In this regard, the European Union has been addressing those issues through the “Guidance on the Implementation/Application of Directive 2005/29/EC Unfair Commercial Practices” and its “Behavioural study on Advertising and marketing Practices in Online Social Media” .The United States launched its “Disclosures 101 for social media influencers” . The United Kingdom did the same with “An Influencer’s Guide to making clear that ads are ads” presented by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) . Canada’s Ad Standards has addressed the topic through the “Disclosure Guidelines to illustrate industry best practices” . Chile has also addressed these issues through the National Consumer Service (SERNAC, for its Spanish acronym) with the “Study on online advertising: The case of native advertising” . The National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) of Peru has also published a “Guide of Advertising for Influencers” . The Australian consumer authority has undertaken an internet sweep of influencers with 81% of influencers identified as potentially engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct .

International organizations have also taken steps to protect consumers from the potential risks and negative impacts of influencer advertising, such as the OECD's Committee on Consumer Policy (CCP) that has released the "Good Practice Guide on Online Advertising" as a set of guidelines and recommendations in this regard. (https://doi.org/10.1787/20716826).

This Project aims to improve knowledge of best practices for influencer advertising policies, conduct research on consumer perceptions and behavior, and foster public- private sector cooperation to develop best practices, guidelines, and compliance programs.

Eligibility and Fund Priorities

This project fulfills the requirements for the Digital Innovation Sub-Fund as it aligns with the following key areas of focus: (i) Facilitating the free flow of information and data for the development of the Internet and Digital Economy, while respecting applicable domestic laws and regulations, and (ii) Enhancing inclusiveness of Internet and Digital Economy. This project also aligns with the APEC Internet and Digital Economy Roadmap (AIDER) because it is related to fostering digital development as

well as promoting coherence and cooperation on regulatory approaches and policy frameworks, particularly, on influencers advertising. Hence, the project aims to enhance APEC economies integration and sustainable growth of the digital ecosystem.

Capacity Building

This initiative aims to enhance the abilities and resources of APEC member economies, with a particular focus on developing members. The project includes a PPD and the development of a Best practices document based on the PPD. These activities will help government officials and private sector representatives involved in influencer advertising acquire knowledge and skills from various angles, such as public policies, self-regulation and government regulation practices. Moreover, it reinforces international cooperation, facilitates the development of effective regulations, strengthens capacity-building efforts, and establishes networks among stakeholders. These actions promote discussions and the generation of ideas to establish higher standards for proper influencers advertising. Ultimately, this will boost consumer trust, enhance competition, and increase confidence in the marketplace.

Objectives

The objective of this project is to improve leadership and capacity building of APEC economies’ agencies overseeing influencers advertising. The project will also promote policy coordination/coherence for better practices on influencer advertising and consumer protection. For that purpose, based on a PPD, a Best practices document will be developed. The aim is to assist the establishment of measures for promoting and guiding a responsible use of influencers advertising, mainly in specific situations that can be information that can be misleading, the lack of disclosure of sponsored content, advertising that can harm children, among others.

Alignment

Beneficiaries and Outputs

SN	Output Name	Description
1	1-day Public Private Dialogue (PPD) to be held on August 2024 in Peru, ideally between DESG and CTI.	The expected discussion topics, action items and format of the PPD are: 1. Competition and consumer protection policies and regulations applicable to influencer advertising This session should focus on providing an understanding of the legal framework surrounding influencer advertising, emphasizing relevant competition and consumer protection policies and regulations. It should cover disclosure requirements, transparency, and the potential impacts of non-compliance on consumers and fair market competition. 2. Oversight of influencer advertising and enforcement This session will look at the mechanisms for overseeing influencer advertising, including the roles of regulatory bodies and platforms, monitoring strategies, and compliance enforcement methods. It should delve into how regulators and platforms work together to ensure that influencer content adheres to regulations and guidelines. 3. Sanctions in unfair competition cases through the dissemination of influencer advertising This session should focus on the potential legal consequences and sanctions that may arise from deceptive or unfair influencer advertising practices. It could include examples of legal actions taken against influencers or brands for non-compliance, discussing the resulting sanctions. 4. Good practices for better influencer advertising This session will help identify effective strategies for ethical and responsible influencer advertising. It should cover aspects such as clear and prominent disclosure of paid partnerships, honest product reviews, genuine endorsements, and fostering authenticity in content creation. Real-world examples of successful and transparent influencer collaborations can be shared. Selected experts are expected to make a presentation of their economy'sperspective, depending on the session they will cover. It is recommended to use real cases resolved in their economies to give a practical insight onthe topic. Each session will involve a presentation by an expert or panel discussion by experts and might be followed by Q&A. 5. Workshop discussion. The workshop discussion segment should encourage participants to actively engage with the content presented in previous sessions. For that purpose, the workshop might feature small-group breakout sessions and a final plenary discussion session in which participants will discuss challenges in enforcing regulations related to influencers advertising, and participate in practical exercises, such as discussions of case studies, application of lessons learned and brainstorm recommendations for good practices. Particulary, for the brainstorm recommendations for good practices, the will be provided with questions that encourage them to consider the most recent and predicted future advances in the areas discussed, that might affect the enforcement of regulation related to influencers advertising. Dissemination and return of the post-event survey, to gather feedback from participants to measure outcomes.
2	Best Practices Document	A Best Practices Document will be delivered to promote policy coordination/coherence for better practices on influencer advertising and consumer protection. The main conclusions and recommendations from the workshop discussion will be included. The document will be an APEC Publication (12 pages or more). Tentative structure: 1.Executive Summary 2. Competition Policy and regulation 3. Case Studies 4.Recommendations 5.Conclusions
3	Project Summary Report	The Summary Report aims to present an overview of all the presentationscovered in all the sessions of the PPD, as well as comments raised bydelegates, which are not necessarily included in the Best PracticesDocument. The Report will be circulated to CTI for information and uploading to the Meeting Database.

	SN	Outcome Description
	1	Improve the understanding of influencer advertising practices and its impact in trade flows, economic growth, and sustainability, amongst participants'.
	2	Build capacity amongst participants in the design and implementation of competition policies on e-commerce and social media for adequate influencer advertising practices by exchanging experiences and best practices on the supervision of influencers' advertising as applied in APEC economies.
	3	Improve the skills of participants for a better resolution of competition cases related to influencer advertising.
	4	Increase capacity and skills amongst female participants to better understand competition and influencers’ advertising regulation for better advertising practices.

Beneficiaries

a. Primary Beneficiaries:

-Policy makers involved in formulating, implementing, and enforcing public policies related to environmental claims.

-Private sector representatives and e-commerce providers engaged in developing self- regulation practices, best practices, and compliance programs for influencer marketing and digital advertising.

-Researchers focused on marketing and digital advertising.

b. Secondary Beneficiaries:

-Consumers as the ultimate recipients of advertising.

-Entrepreneurs engaged in advertising activities, primarily such as influencers, marketing agencies and SMEs.

-Women will find opportunities for economic empowerment through this project.

Dissemination

All the material distributed during the PPD will be available for electronic distribution among public officials from APEC members. The completion report, assistance list, presentations and other materials will be sent to the APEC Secretariat to be uploaded to the APEC Project Database.

The Project Overseer will present the results of the PPD at CTI 3 2024.

The Best Practices document will be published on the APEC website, after being endorsed by CTI. Also, this document will be uploaded to the National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property of Peru (INDECOPI) in its Spanish version.

On publication of the Best Practices Document by APEC, permission will be sought from the Secretariat to translate it into Spanish and upload to the INDECOPI website.

Gender

The PO will encourage a higher participation rate of women from public and private sector as participants and speakers. It is expected that the number of female participants will represent around 40% of all attendees and 30% of speakers. The PO’s team will also be integrated by an important number of female officers. The PO is also committed to collect sex-disaggregated data for all (funded and self-funded) speakers and participants. This data will be included as part of the submission of the Completion Report to the Secretariat when the project completes and will serve to guide future POs on their own gender equality targets.

The project outcomes and the project objective benefit women since it aims to improve women entrepreneurs and government

officials’ leadership on competition policies and advertising for strengthening their economic competitiveness.

Gender Participation Target Goals:
Male: 60% (as Participants) and 70% (as Speakers/Experts)
Female: 40% (as Participants) and 30% (as Speakers/Experts)

Pillars of the Gender Criteria:
Skills, Capacity Building, and Health
Leadership, Voice and Agency
Innovation and Technology

Work Plan

Please see Project Proposal in Supporting Tab.

Risks

Please see Project Proposal in Supporting Tab.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Please see Project Proposal in Supporting Tab.

Linkages

The project continues with the initiatives contained in the Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) on Advertising Standards in the Digital Economy (CTI 05 2019T), in the “APEC Advertising Standards Conference: From Principles to Implementation” (CTI 05 2017S) and in the APEC Seminar on Sharing Good Practices and Experiences on Advertising Self-Regulation among APEC Economies (CTI 01 2016S). As it continues the work related to advertising standards, but it does not duplicate them as it focuses on influencers advertising.

The invitation to attend the PPD will be circulated among CTI, DESG and SCSC members. The Best practices document will be also circulated among them to receive their feedback/comments and endorsement.

Sustainability

Sustainability

After the PPD, the knowledge acquired could be used by APEC economies, policymakers and regulatory decision-makers to apply the best practices to promote advertising standards for the benefit of consumer protection and competition policies related to influencer advertising, particularly for developing economies. This dialogue

contemplates that the regulatory and self-regulatory framework must be continuously evaluated considering the advances in technology and marketing strategies, for developing better advertising practices and to promote voluntary self-regulation standards. On the other hand, one year after the publication a questionnaire will be circulated among economies in order to analyze if they have taken them into account for the implementation of new policies.

Direct Labour

Please see Project Proposal in Supporting Tab.

Are there any supporting document attached?

Project No.
Project Title
Project Status
Fund Account
Sub-fund
Project Year
Project Session
APEC Funding
Co-funding Amount
Total Project Value
Sponsoring Forum
Topics
Committee
Other Fora Involved
Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved
Proposing Economy(ies)
Co-Sponsoring Economies
Expected Start Date
Expected Completion Date
Project Proponent Name 1
Job Title 1
Organization 1
Telephone 1
Email 1
Project Proponent Name 2
Job Title 2
Organization 2
Telephone 2
Email 2
Declaration
Project Summary
Relevance
Objectives
Alignment
Beneficiaries and Outputs
Dissemination
Gender
Work Plan
Risks
Monitoring and Evaluation
Linkages
Sustainability
Direct Labour
Are there any supporting document attached?
hdFldAdmin
Project Number
Previous Fora
Secretariat Comments
Reprogramming Notes
Consolidated QAF
Endorsement By Fora
PD Sign Off
Batch
Forum Priority
Committee Ranking Category
Committee Priority
PDM Priority
Priority Within Funding Category
Monitoring Report Received
Completion Report Received
PMU Field 1
PMU Field 2
PMU Field 3
On Behalf Of
Proposal Status
Originating Sub-Forum
Approval Status
Attachments

Content Type: Standard Proposal