This report provides updated information on the status of implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (BMS) and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions (collectively referred to as “the Code”) in countries. It presents the legal status of the Code, including the extent to which the provisions of the Code have been incorporated in national legal measures. The report examines further the processes countries use to monitor and enforce compliance with Code laws. The report also provides case-studies from a few countries on their legislative processes, highlighting examples of interference from manufacturers and distributors of breast-milk substitutes in efforts to weaken and delay Code implementation.

The practice of breastfeeding, although crucial for the healthy development of infants and young children, is threatened by abusive and misleading marketing aimed at promoting the sale of breastmilk substitutes, bottles and teats. The International Code sets out a strict framework for the advertising of such products to ensure that parents have adequate and commercially independent information on which to base their child’s feeding decisions. The Code protects both breastfed and non-breastfed babies from commercial pressures.

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240094482

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