ASA Adjudication on Forum Products Ltd

Ad

A direct mailing, for Agger's veterinary products, stated "Agger's®... a history of success ... a future of innovation ... Now manufactured in the UK to the highest standards We are pleased to advise you that we have transferred the manufacture of the Agger's products to the UK. The Agger's products are now produced in a British facility that manufactures veterinary medicines. The plant is approved by DEFRA and UFAS, is certified to ISP 9000:2000 and operates to GMP standards. This ensures that the highest standards of manufacture are maintained ...".

Issue

Nimrod Veterinary Products challenged whether the mailing misleadingly implied that the Agger's products, now manufactured in the UK, were identical to those that had previously been manufactured in Denmark, because they understood that the composition of the products was different.  

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Forum Products Ltd (Forum) explained that they sold various animal health products that had been manufactured in Denmark until December 2008, after which time manufacture was transferred to the UK.  The purpose of the mailing was to notify customers of that change.  

Forum pointed out that companies frequently changed the sourcing of their products, their ingredients and their packaging without notifying their customers.  The application of their trademark or brand to products was sufficient to indicate the provenance of the products, their quality and other characteristics.  Forum believed they were entitled to change the sourcing and manufacture of their trademarked products from Denmark to the UK.  

Forum provided us with the ingredients and composition for each of the UK manufactured Agger's products, plus the same information for the Danish manufactured products, which was provided to them by the Danish manufacturing company.  They said the mailing did not imply that the composition of the products was identical, but confirmed that the UK manufactured products had substantially the same nutritional effect as those sourced from Denmark.  

Forum said they had no plans to use the ad again.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA considered that recipients of the mailing were likely to infer from the claim "We are pleased to advise you that we have transferred the manufacture of the Agger's products to the UK." that the Agger's products had formerly been manufactured abroad, but were now manufactured in the UK.  We noted the claim appeared in a paragraph that talked about manufacturing standards: "Now manufactured in the UK to the highest standards ... produced in a British facility that manufactures veterinary medicines.  The plant is approved by DEFRA and UFAS, is certified to ISO 9000:2000 and operates to GMP standards.  This ensures the highest standards of manufacture are maintained."  In that context, we considered that readers were likely to infer that the purpose of the mailing was to assure them that the Agger's products were still being manufactured to a high standard now that they were being made in the UK.  We did not consider that the mailing implied that the products were identical to those previously manufactured in Denmark and therefore did not assess the compositional breakdown or nutritional benefits of the products to determine whether they were identical.  We noted the mailing made reference to the New Improved packing" and that the products were available in new, improved sachets with easier opening and in bottles with tamper-proof seals" and concluded that it was unlikely to mislead.

We investigated the mailing under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)