Broadcasting Regulations (Cap. 274B)

Scope of Broadcasting Regulations

The Broadcasting Regulations (“Regulations”) are binding subsidiary legislation made under the Broadcasting Act, CAP. 274B. Any person who contravenes the Regulations commits an offence and faces, on summary conviction, a fine, imprisonment or both (section 12).

The Regulations cover all holders of a broadcast licence issued under the Broadcasting Act, referred to throughout as “licensees.” This includes operators of both radio stations and television stations licensed to broadcast in Barbados.

It also outlines the operational and content obligations that licensees must follow. They govern station administration (identification, logging, fees, and local content requirements), content standards and the terms under which the government may use broadcast infrastructure for public purposes.

Key provisions

Regarding FULL purposes, the regulations bring provisions on prohibitions or restrictions of marketing, as the following:

• Prohibition of advertisements that the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe contain false or deceptive information (Section 5(e)). In the food policy context, this provision may apply to misleading health and nutrition claims, exaggerated benefit statements or any advertisement that misrepresents the nutritional profile of a product.
• Prohibition of alcohol and cigarette advertisements from explicitly urging the purchase or use of those products (Regulation 8). This demonstrates that the domestic regulatory framework of Barbados already embraces restrictions on commercial expression to protect public health.
• Restriction of total advertisement time in any programme to 15 minutes in any hour of broadcast (Regulation 10(b) restricts). The limit on total advertising volume indirectly constrains audience exposure to food and beverage advertising.