“MILK

CODE”
National Code of Marketing of
Breastmilk Substitutes,
Breastmilk Supplement and
Other Related Products
SECTION 1. Title

- This Code shall be known and cited as

the "National Code of Marketing of
Breastmilk Substitutes, Breastmilk
Supplement and Other Related
Products."
SECTION 2. Aim of the Code
The aim of the Code is to contribute to
the provision of safe and adequate
nutrition for infants by the protection
and promotion of breast feeding and by
ensuring the proper use of breastmilk
substitutes and breastmilk supplements
when these are necessary, on the basis
of adequate information and through
appropriate marketing and distribution.
SECTION 3. Scope of the Code
The Code applies to the marketing, and practices
related thereto, of the following products:
breastmilk substitutes, including infant formula;
other milk products, foods and beverages,
including bottle-fed complementary foods, when
marketed or otherwise represented to be
suitable, with or without modification, for use as
a partial or total replacement of breastmilk;
feeding bottles and teats. It also applies to their
quality and availability, and to information
concerning their use.
SECTION 4. Definition of Terms
For the purposes of this Code, the
following definition of terms shall govern;

(a) "Breastmilk Substitute" means any food

being marketed or otherwise represented
as a partial or total replacement for
breastmilk, whether or not suitable for that
purpose.
(b) "Complementary Food" means any
food, whether manufactured or locally
prepared, suitable as a complement to
breastmilk or to infant formula, when
either becomes insufficient to satisfy the
nutritional requirements of the infant.
Such food is also commonly called
"weaning food" or "breastmilk
supplement."
(c) "Container" means any form of packaging of
products for sale as a normal retail unit,
including wrappers.

(d) "Distributor" means a person, corporation

or any other entity in the public or private
sector engaged in the business (whether
directly or indirectly) of marketing at the
wholesale or retail level a product within the
scope of this Code. A "primary distributor" is a
manufacturer's sales agent, representative,
national distributor or broker .
(e) "Infant" means a person falling within the
age bracket of 0-12 months.

(f) "Health care system" means governmental,

non-governmental or private institutions or
organizations engaged, directly or indirect1y, in
health care for mothers, infants and pregnant
women; and nurseries or child care
institutions. It also includes health workers in
private practice. For the purpose of this Code,
the health care system does not include
pharmacies or other established sales outlets.
(g) "Health Worker" means a person working in
a component of such health care system,
whether professional or non-professional,
including volunteer workers.

(h) "Infant Formula" means a breastmilk

substitute formulated industrially in
accordance with applicable Codex Alimentarius
standards, to satisfy the normal nutritional
requirements of infants up to between four to
six months of age, and adapted to their
physiological characteristics. Infant formula
may also be prepared at home in which case it
is described as "home-prepared."
(i) "Label" means any tag, brand, mark,
pictorial or other descriptive matter, written,
printed, stenciled, marked, embossed or
impressed on, or attached to, a container of
any product within the scope of this Code.

(j) "Manufacturer" means a corporation or

other entity in the public or private sector
engaged in the business or function (whether
directly or through an agent or an entity
controlled by or under contract with it) of
manufacturing a product within the scope of
this Code.
(k) ''Marketing" means product promotion,
distribution, selling, advertising, product
public relations, and information services.

(l) "Marketing personnel" means any

person whose functions involve the
marketing of a product or products coming
within the scope of this Code.
(m) "Sample" means single or small
quantities of a product provided without
cost .

(n) "Supplies" means quantities of a

product provided for use over an extended
period, free or at a low price, for social
purposes, including those provided to
families in need.
SECTION 5. Information and Education

(a) The government shall ensure that

objective and consistent information is
provided on infant feeding, for use by
families and those involved in the field of
infant nutrition. This responsibility shall
cover the planning, provision, design and
dissemination of information, and the
control thereof, on infant nutrition.
(b) Informational and educational
materials, whether written, audio, or
visual, dealing with the feeding of
infants and intended to reach pregnant
women and mothers of infants, shall
include clear information on all the
following points:
(1) the benefits and superiority of
breastfeeding;
(2) maternal nutrition, and the preparation
for and maintenance of breastfeeding;
(3) the negative effect on breast feeding of
introducing partial bottle-feeding;
(4) the difficulty of reversing the decision not
to breastfeed; and
(5) where needed, the proper use of infant
formula, whether manufactured
industrially or home-prepared.
When such materials contain information
about the use of infant formula, they shall
include the social and financial implications
of its use; the health hazards of
inappropriate foods or feeding methods;
and, in particular, the health hazards of
unnecessary or improper use of infant
formula and other breastmilk substitutes.
Such materials shall not use any picture or
text which may idealize the use of
breastmilk substitutes.
SECTION 6. The General Public and Mothers

(a) No advertising, promotion or other

marketing materials, whether written,
audio or visual, for products within the
scope of this Code shall be printed,
published, distributed, exhibited and
broadcast unless such materials are duly
authorized and approved by an inter-
agency committee created herein pursuant
to the applicable standards provided for in
this Code.
(b) Manufacturers and distributors shall not be
permitted to give, directly or indirectly,
samples and supplies of products within the
scope of this Code or gifts of any sort to any
member of the general public, including
members of their families, to hospitals and
other health institutions, as well as to
personnel within the health care system, save
as otherwise provided in this Code.
(c) There shall be no point-of-sale advertising,
giving of samples or any other promotion
devices to induce sales directly to the
consumers at the retail level, such as special
displays, discount coupons, premiums, special
sales, bonus and tie-in sales for the products
within the scope of this Code. This provision
shall not restrict the establishment of pricing
policies and practices intended to provide
products at lower prices on a long-term basis.
(d) Manufacturers and distributors shall
not distribute to pregnant women or
mothers of infants any gifts or articles or
utensils which may promote the use of
breastmilk substitutes or bottle feeding.
nor shall any other groups, institutions or
individuals distribute such gifts, utensils or
products to the general public and
mothers.
(e) Marketing personnel shall be prohibited
from advertising or promoting in any other
manner the products covered by this Code.
either directly or indirectly, to pregnant
women or with mother of infants except as
otherwise provided by this Code.
(f) Nothing herein contained shall prevent
donations from manufacturers and
distributors of products within the scope of
this Code upon request by or with the
approval of the Ministry of Health.
SECTION 7. Health Care System

(a) The Ministry of Health shall take

appropriate measures to encourage and
promote breastfeeding. It shall provide
objective and consistent information.
training and advice to health workers on
infant nutrition, and on their obligations
under this Code.
b) No facility of the health care system shall
be used for the purpose of promoting infant
formula or other products within the scope of
this Code. This Code does not, however,
preclude the dissemination of information to
health professionals as provided in Section
8(b).

(c) Facilities of the health care system shall

not be used for the display of products within
the scope of this Code, or for placards or
posters concerning such products.
(d) The use by the health care system of
"professional service" representatives,
"mothercraft nurses" or similar personnel.
provided or paid for by manufacturers or
distributors, shall not be permitted.

(e) In health education classes for mothers and

the general public, health workers and
community workers shall emphasize the hazards
and risks of the improper use of breastmilk
substitutes particularly infant formula. Feeding
with infant formula shall be demonstrated only to
mothers who may not be able to breastfeed for
medical or other legitimate reasons.
 SECTION 8. Health Workers

(a) Health workers shall encourage and

promote breast feeding and shall make
themselves familiar with objective and
consistent information on maternal and
infant nutrition, and with their
responsibilities under this Code.
(b) Information provided by manufacturers
and distributors to health professionals
regarding products within the scope of this
Code shall be restricted to scientific and
factual matters, and such information shall
not imply or create a belief that bottle-
feeding is equivalent or superior to
breastfeeding. It shall also include the
information specified in Section 5
(c) No financial or material inducements to
promote products within the scope of this
Code shall be offered by manufacturers or
distributors to health workers or members
of their families, nor shall these be
accepted by the health workers or
members of their families, except as
otherwise provided in Section 8(e).
(d) Samples of infant formula or other
products within the scope of this Code, or
of equipment or utensils for their
preparation or use, shall not be provided
to health workers except when necessary
for the purpose of professional evaluation
or research in accordance with the rules
and regulations promulgated by the
Ministry of Health. No health workers shall
give samples of infant formula to pregnant
women and mothers of infants or
members of their families.
(e) Manufacturers and distributors of
products within the scope of this Code may
assist in the research, scholarships and
continuing education, of health
professionals, in accordance with the rules
and regulations promulgated by the
Ministry of Health.
 SECTION 9. Persons Employed by
Manufacturers and Distributors

Personnel employed in marketing products

within the scope of this Code shall not, as
part of their job responsibilities, perform
educational functions in relation to
pregnant women or mothers of infants.
SECTION 10. Containers/Labels
(a) Containers and/or labels shall be designed
to provide the necessary information about
the appropriate use of the products, and in
such a way as not to discourage breastfeeding.

(b) Each container shall have a clear,

conspicuous and easily readable and
understandable message in Pilipino or English
printed on it, or on a label, which message can
not readily become separated from it, and
which shall include the following points:
(i) the words "Important Notice" or their
equivalent;
(ii) a statement of the superiority of
breastfeeding;
(iii) a statement that the product shall be
used only on the advice of a health
worker as to the need for its use and
the proper methods of use; and
(iv) instructions for appropriate
preparation, and a warning against the
health hazards of inappropriate
preparation.
(c) Neither the container nor the label shall
have pictures or texts which may idealize
the use of infant formula. They may,
however, have graphics for easy
identification of the product and for
illustrating methods of preparation.

(d) The term "humanized," "maternalized"

or similar terms shall not be used.
(e) Food products within the scope of this
Code marketed for infant feeding, which do
not meet all the requirements of an infant
formula but which can be modified to do so,
shall carryon the label a warning that the
unmodified product should not be the sole
source of nourishment of an infant.

(f) The labels of fool products within the scope

of this Code shall, in addition to the
requirements in the preceding paragraphs,
conform with the rules and regulations of the
Bureau of Food and Drugs.
SECTION 11. Quality

(a) The quality of products is an essential

element for the protection of the health of
infants, and therefore shall be of high
recognized standard.

(b) Food products within the scope of this

Code shall, when sold or otherwise distributed,
meet applicable standards recommended by
the Codex Alimentarius Commission and also
the Codex Code of Hygienic Practice for Foods
for Infants and Children.
(c) To prevent quality deterioration.
adulteration or contamination of food
products within the scope of this Code,
distribution outlets, including the smallest
sari-sari store, shall not be allowed to open
cans and boxes for the purpose of retailing
them by the cup, bag or in any other form.
 SECTION 12. Implementation and
Monitoring
(a) For purposes of Section 6(a) of this Code,
an inter-agency committee composed of the
following members is hereby created:

Minister of Health --------------------- Chairman

Minister of Trade and Industry ------- Member
Minister of Justice ------------------------ Member
Minister of Social Services and Development ---
----------- Member
The members may designate their duly
authorized representative to every meeting
of the Committee.

The Committee shall have the following

powers and functions:
(1) To review and examine all advertising.
promotion or other marketing materials,
whether written, audio or visual, on
products within the scope of this Code;
(2) To approve or disapprove, delete
objectionable portions from and prohibit
the printing, publication, distribution,
exhibition and broadcast of, all advertising
promotion or other marketing materials,
whether written, audio or visual, on
products within the scope of this Code;
(3) To prescribe the internal and
operational procedure for the exercise
of its powers and functions as well as
the performance of its duties and
responsibilities; and
(4) To promulgate such rules and
regulations as are necessary or proper for
the implementation of Section 6 (a) of this
Code

(b) The Ministry of Health shall be

principally responsible for the
implementation and enforcement of the
provisions of this Code. For this purpose,
the Ministry of Health shall have the
following powers and function:
 (1) To promulgate such rules and
regulations as are necessary or proper for
the implementation of this Code and the
accomplishment of its purposes and
objectives.
(2) To call the assistance of government
agencies and the private sector to ensure
the implementation and enforcement of,
and strict compliance with, the provisions
of this Code and the rules and regulations
promulgated in accordance herewith.
(3) To cause the prosecution of the
violators of this Code and other
pertinent laws on products covered by
this Code.

(4) To exercise such other powers

and functions as may be necessary for
or incidental to the attainment of the
purposes and objectives of this Code.
SECTION 13. Sanctions
(a) Any person who violates the
provisions of this Code or the rules and
regulations issued pursuant to this Code
shall, upon conviction, be punished by a
penalty of two (2) months to one (1) year
imprisonment or a fine of not less than
One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) nor more
than Thirty Thousand Pesos (P30,000.00)
nor more than Thirty Thousand Pesos
(P30,000.00) or both.
Should the offense be committed by a
juridical person, the Chairman of the
Board of Directors, the president,
general manager, or the partners and/
or the persons directly responsible
therefore, shall be penalized.
• (b) Any license, permit or authority
issued by any government agency to any
health worker, distributor, manufacturer,
or marketing firm or personnel for the
practice of their professional or
occupation, or for the pursuit of their
business, may, upon recommendation of
the Ministry of Health, be suspended or
revoked in the event of repeated
violations of this Code, or of the rules
and regulations issued pursuant to this
Code.
SECTION 14. Repealing Clause

All laws, orders, issuances, and rules

and regulations or parts thereof
inconsistent with this Executive Order
are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.
SECTION 15. Separability Clause

The provisions of this Executive Order

are hereby deemed separable. If any
provision thereof be declared invalid
or unconstitutional, such invalidity or
unconstitutionality shall not affect the
other provisions which shall remain in
full force and effect.
SECTION 16. Effectivity

This Executive Order shall take effect

thirty (30) days following its
publication in the Official Gazette.
Done in the City of Manila, this 10th day of
October, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen
hundred and eighty-six.
Reference:
• www.pcw.goc.ph/law/executive-order-no-51