Advertising body wants total control

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Association of Advertising Agencies is lobbying the government to make all advertising agencies join it.

Association chairman Koes Pudjianto said yesterday compulsory membership was one of the rules on advertising proposed by the association to the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The draft rules include a stipulation that membership of the association is a condition of obtaining a business license.

"We hope the draft rules will be enacted in a joint-decree of the Ministry of Information and Ministry of Industry and Trade," he said.

Koes said compulsory membership would let the association effectively supervise and discipline all advertising agencies and prepare them for the free trade era.

He said advertising had boomed in the last five years with annual growth rates around 40 percent. The association's membership has grown 62.1 percent in the last three years to about 200 from 124.

He said the advertising boom had been exploited by many unprofessional agencies, which refused to join the association or conform with its professional code of ethics.

They often resorted to unethical practices to gain business deals amid fierce competition, he said.

"Their activities have therefore been hurting the business of professional advertising agencies, like the members of our association. And we can't discipline them because they are not our members," he said.

He said once membership to the association had become obligatory, the association could force all advertising agencies to conform with its code of ethics.

To join the association, an advertising agency must meet certain requirements, particularly on capital and human resources.

He said the association would further discuss the draft rules and other programs to prepare advertising agencies for free trade at its 10th national congress from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7 in Lido, West Java. (jsk)