The ACCC has rejected the Infant Nutrition Council’s (INC) application to continue the infant formula marketing agreement for another five years citing concerns over its effectiveness and impact on competition.
The Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula: Manufacturers and Importers Agreement (MAIF Agreement) and associated guidelines was developed to restrict the advertising and promotion of infant formula.
It began in 1992, as part of Australia’s response to its obligations as a signatory to the World Health Organisation’s International Code of Marketing Breast Milk Substitutes.
It is a voluntary, self-regulatory code of conduct that aims to restrict manufacturers and importers of infant formula – that have opted into the agreement – from advertising and promoting formula for infants up to 12 months of age.
Its implementation requires ACCC authorisation as it forms an agreement between competitors not to market their infant formula products.
The ACCC said MAIF’s effectiveness was being undermined by “its voluntary nature, its limited scope, and restrictions on its ability to capture the breadth of modern digital marketing methods”.
ACCC acting chair, Mick Keogh, said, “We are not satisfied in all the circumstances that the MAIF Agreement is likely to result in public benefits that would outweigh the public detriments likely to result from it.”
The cmn also considered the conduct was likely to result in competitive detriment.
The INC had applied for the extension to ensure a framework remained in place while the federal government prepares and implements its response to the independent review of the MAIF Agreement currently underway.
The council represents the majority of manufacturers and importers of infant formula in Australia.
In 2021, the ACCC granted authorisation for another three years while forecasting the risk of public detriment outweighing public benefit would grow “should the period exceed the agreed three-year duration”.
Since then, the Department of Health and Aged Care commissioned an independent review of the MAIF Agreement. In October 2023 it delivered its findings and recommendations that found it was no longer fit for purpose and should be replaced with a stronger regulatory framework in the form of a legislated, prescribed, mandatory code.
The department told the cmn the government had accepted the recommendation and expected it would take two years to implement.
“Effective government regulation of infant formula marketing would likely result in public health benefits,” Keogh said.
