UAE executives hail new advertising regulations

Dubai - The new decree seeks to regulate the advertisement sector.

 Dubai is now a global brand and what message it sends out is of vital importance with Expo 2020 Dubai preparations in full swing. The advertising industry received new regulations on Tuesday, February 25, and have termed it as "timely guideline".
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has issued decree No. 06 of 2020 regarding the regulation of advertisements in the Emirate of Dubai.
The new decree seeks to regulate the advertisement sector and promote closer interaction between governing bodies and the advertisement industry.  Broadly, the new decree seeks to preserve the visual appearance and beauty of the city and ensure advertisements harmonise with the design of buildings. The decree also seeks to uphold public and traffic safety and monitor advertisements to prevent misinformation and violations of public order, morals and customs.
Ramesh Menon, CEO, brandform, said: "This is truly a great initiative especially in the light of Expo 2020, where Dubai needs to establish itself as a consistent, well-managed brand - and that can start with guidelines for what, where and how communications are put out."
The new decree is applicable to all advertisements in the Emirates of Dubai, including private development zones and free zones.
The UAE's Out Of Home (OOH) Advertising industry is approximately valued at Dh1.2 billion including malls, airports, metro, roadside, large formats, DOOH, taxis and buses and Dubai Out Of Home (OOH) advertising field is the leader across the region, setting standards for the rest of the region to follow.
Rehan Merchant, Group CEO, Emirates Neon Group, said: "We look forward to the local authorities to set better industry standards and practices, every few years, for the ad companies to follow and invest in. As clients change their buying and spending patterns, there will be a lot of transformation in the industry, led by conversion to Digital OOH sites, in varying formats, that will be created as now the city is more digital friendly and all the government departments have objectives in digital transformation set by our Rulers. We expect a lot of technology in our field in the next few years, to improve the market, and the way brands can reach their target markets, in a digitised economy."
The decree strictly forbids any entity to display advertisements in Dubai without obtaining prior permission from competent authorities. Authorities responsible for providing permission in their respective jurisdictions include Dubai Municipality, Roads and Transport Authority , Department of Economic Development, the authority managing a private development zone, the authority managing a free zone, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Dubai Maritime City Authority.
Dubai Municipality, in collaboration with other concerned entities, will develop a sets of guidelines detailing all the procedures, requirements and technical specifications for obtaining advertisement permits. All applications for advertisement permits must satisfy the requirements outlined in the guidelines.  After obtaining the permit, the applicant must fully comply with the specifications in the permit, including the dimensions, timeframe, advertisement method and all other procedures and technical specifications outlined in the guideline.
Pursuant to the decree, advertisements cannot be placed on historic buildings, places of worship, graveyards, traffic lights and signs, government buildings, trees, restricted areas, military areas, residential buildings and any other location restricted by authorised entities. Once the authorised period for displaying the advertisement is over or the contract has expired, the advertising company must remove the ad and restore the location to its original state.
The decree also specifies the fines and penalties for violations. The violator can appeal in writing to the Director General of the concerned government entity within 30 days of the date of the fine notification.
The Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai will issue the bylaws required to implement this Decree, which annuls Local Order No. 30 of 1986 Regarding Supervision of Advertisements in the Emirate of Dubai and any other legislation that contradicts or challenges its articles. The new Decree will be published in the Official Gazette and will be effective three months after the date of its publication.
sandhya@khaleejtimes.com
(With inputs from Wam)

• Dubai