On 5 November the European Copy Advice / Pre-Clearance Facility was launched, which enables advertising professionals to get advice on whether an ad is compliant with the local advertising code in one or several of 15 European countries that take part in the facility.

The online one-stop shop was developed by Clearcast, in cooperation with EASA and its members. Once registered for the online facility, advertisers and agencies can submit requests for copy advice to one or more advertising self-regulatory organisations of the 15 European countries taking part in the project for one or more media. All requests are treated in complete confidentiality and are on a non-binding basis.

The facility can also be used to submit pre-clearance requests; either the site directly submits your request to the organisation responsible for pre-clearance, or it will direct you to the relevant on-line resource. Any special requirements or fees that apply are flagged, as some countries require payment for this service.

The European Copy Advice / Pre-Clearance Facility is now available on www.ad-advice.org. The following countries have national advertising self-regulatory bodies that participate in the online facility: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom.