ICDC Monitoring

ICDC advises and trains on Code Monitoring. National training courses have been held in many countries ranging from Oman to Bangladesh, from Japan to the Philippines. IBFAN started monitoring baby food company practices even before the Code came into being, supplying Code drafters with precious evidence of commercial interference with breastfeeding. The practice has been fine tuned ever since, leading up to the current Code Monitoring Kit which feeds into an international database. Every three years, ICDC publishes evidence of Code violations.The evidence is collected by volunteers in the IBFAN network worldwide. It is analysed by lawyers and collated by company. The reports are called “Breaking the Rules, Stretching the Rules” (BTR). You can submit violations to ICDC using IBFANs on-line monitoring form.

“Breaking the Rules, Stretching the Rules”

This triennial global monitoring report highlights the ways in which major transnational companies which sell baby foods, feeding bottle and teats violate the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. The latest global report was published in 2010.  Company profiles are available for download.  For details on how to purchase individual company reports, check section on Code Watch - BTR 2010.  

For previous global monitoring reports, see Code Watch – the Reports.

IBFAN global monitoring reports Breaking the Rules, Stretching the Rules 2004 Breaking the Rules, Stretching the Rules 2001 Breaking the Rules, Stretching the Rules 1998

Look What They’re Doing (LWTD) and FOCUS

LWTD are 4-8 page summaries of the marketing situation in individual countries or regions. They are intended to boost Code compliance nationally and regionally where marketing trends are similar.  Another series of Look What They´re Doing focuses on marketing trends. 

In FOCUS ICDC highlights specific issues relating to marketing, infant feeding and the ways companies exploit them for their own advantage.

These reports can be downloaded from the section on Code Watch – the reports and Code Watch - Focus papers on companies and issues.

	Look What They ´re Doing - spotlight on marketing trends 1. Labels : Idealising bottle feeding 2. Mothers : Making informed choices about infant feeding 3. The Internet : Websites: Linking mothers to bottle feeding 4. Hospitals & Clinics : Practices which  discourage breastfeeding 5. The International Code, HIV and Breastfeeding: relevance of the Code in the context of HIV/AIDS pandemic

	State of the Code charts The performance of the major multinational companies is ranked according to their compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent World Health Assembly Resolutions. This is a companion chart to the State of the Code by Country 2009. Both charts are now available for purchase now from ICDC.  For details check section on Resource- ICDC Publications.