The tables below give details of some recent violations. The date when the violation was last reported to Baby Milk Action or confirmed to be current is given. The violation reference is for Baby Milk Action's records. Please quote it if forwarding correspondence to us, if possible.

• Pakistan needs your support!
• Bottled water fiasco raises questions over Nestlé management
• The UK Government and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
  

Pakistan needs your support!

Company	Item	Date	Violation Reference
Nestlé	Attempt to weaken draft law	November 1998	comp/98/31

As reported on past Campaign for Ethical Marketing action sheets (January and June 1998), Nestlé is attempting to weaken Pakistan's draft legislation regulating the marketing of baby foods. The law is reaching its final stages and Nestlé continues to try to undermine it, with only partial success. Nestlé has succeeded in having the draft law amended so that an industry representative sits on the National Infant Feeding Board set up under the law. Until recently the draft law banned anyone with a vested interest in the infant formula/baby food industry from the Board.

The International Code calls on companies to abide by its provisions independently of government measures. If companies did so they would have nothing to fear from the National Infant Feeding Board. Yet the recent report Feeding Fiasco, produced by The Network, Association for Rational Use of Medication in Pakistan, reveals that widespread violations of the International Code occur in Pakistan. The behaviour documented in the report makes it clear that the industry is likely to use a seat on the Board as a means of undermining any regulatory/disciplinary role it has.

A former area manager of an infant formula company revealed in the report Feeding Fiasco the lengths companies are going to in Pakistan to boost sales: "Lucrative hospitals and doctors are known as JKs or Jackpots among company circles. These are purchased by companies for up to US$5,000, after which the doctor or hospital is bound to recommend the company's formula for six months or one year, depending on the deal. Mission Hospital, Multan, is a [Nestlé] Lactogen hub. The deal is a 20% cut to doctors for every tin recommended."

With such deals in operation it is hardly surprising that some (but by no means all) doctors are supporting Nestlé in its campaign to undermine the law.

Please send a letter to The Network in Pakistan which they can use in encouraging the Ministry of Health to change the draft law back so that the National Infant Feeding Board is free of commercial influence. The law is called the "Protection of Breast Feeding and Young Child Nutrition Act". If you have sent a letter in response to a past action sheet then explain that you are writing again because you understand that industry has been allowed onto the Board and this weakens the legislation.

The Network,
60-A,
St: 39,
F-10/4,
Islamabad,
Pakistan,
Fax: +92 51 291552

Ask Nestlé to explain why it is violating the International Code and Resolutions in Pakistan in the ways described in the report Feeding Fiasco. Ask it to bring its marketing activities into line with the International Code and Resolutions. Ask it why it does not support an independent National Infant Feeding Board in Pakistan.

The Feeding Fiasco is available from Baby Milk Action. Contact us for details.

Violation	Complain to
Widespread violations of the International Code.	Mr. Peter Brabeck, CEO Nestlé, 55, av. Nestlé, 1800 Vevey, Switzerland. Fax: 41 21 922 6334

Bottled water fiasco raises questions over Nestlé management

Company	Item	Date	Violation Reference
Nestlé	Advertisements for Valvert bottled water in Belgium	September 1998	comp/98/32

The October 1997 Campaign for Ethical Marketing action sheet exposed how Nestlé was using advertisements for Valvert bottled water to promote artificial infant feeding in Russia. A number of letter writers received a positive response from Nestlé suggesting that it would no longer make reference to artificial infant feeding in its promotional materials for bottled water. This was reiterated after we reported in April 1998 that the same advertisements were still appearing in Russia. Denise Briggs of Nestlé (UK) Public Relations department wrote, "In line with our previously stated commitment, we instructed Perrier Vittel to stop advertising Valvert as appropriate for bottle-feeding. We have asked them to explain why these instructions have not yet been implemented."

It is clear that the Nestlé subsidiary, Perrier Vittel, is now aware of the instructions, but it continues to ignore them. On 29 July 1998 it wrote to our IBFAN partner in Belgium, Réseau Allaitement Maternel, as follows, "Nestlé Vevey has warned us and recommended to us that we no longer make reference to infants in our communications for VALVERT and VITTEL." Réseau Allaitement Maternel then complained at the end of September 1998 about television advertisements for Valvert bottled water which suggested it was "convenient for infants" and "good for growing."

If bottled water is promoted for infant feeding it comes within the Scope of the International Code and therefore should not be advertised or marketed in ways that may undermine breastfeeding. The Valvert advertisement should not have appeared and the labels should include the information required by the International Code. The failure to act raises serious questions about the effectiveness of Nestlé's management. It seems that either its promises are worthless or the management are incapable of implementing them.

Ask Nestlé to ensure that its bottled water is either marketed in accordance with the International Code and subsequent, relevant Resolutions of the World Health Assembly or is not promoted for infant feeding. Ask Nestlé to explain why it has failed to implement the changes it promised to make and what steps it will now take.

Violation	Complain to
Water comes within the scope of the International Code if marketed as suitable for feeding infants before the age of 6 months and should not be promoted.	Mr. Peter Brabeck, CEO Nestlé, 55, av. Nestlé, 1800 Vevey, Switzerland. Fax: 41 21 922 6334

The UK Government and the Convention on the Rights of the Child

In January 1999 the UK Government will report on the steps it has taken to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention is an international legally binding agreement and Article 24 (2 (e)) calls for education on infant feeding and the benefits of breastfeeding. Implementation of the International Code and Resolutions is recognised as one step contibuting to a government's obligations under Article 24. The International Code gives health workers the responsibility for advising parents and limits companies to providing factual and scientific information on products to health workers. It also sets out requirements for labels.

Unfortunately for the Government, the UK Law, called the Infant Formulae and Follow-on Formulae Regulations (1995), falls far short of the International Code and Resolutions. It is limited in its scope and allows the advertising of infant formula in magazines distributed through the health care system. The Labour Party, which is now in power, opposed the Law when it was introduced because of this.

Write to Tessa Jowell MP, Minister for Public Health, asking if the Government will be taking steps to implement the International Code and Resolutions in UK Law in their entirety. Explain that this will help to satisfy obligations under Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ask if the Government's submission in January 1999 will include a plan of action for making the necessary changes to the UK Law in the shortest possible time.

Tessa Jowell MP,
Minister of Public Health,
House of Commons,
London,
SW1A 0AA.
UK.
Fax: +44 (0)171 210 5534

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