State of the Code, 1998 -- Worldwide

State of the Code by Country and State of the Code by Company are two progress reports on code implementation published by IBFAN, the International Baby Food Action Network, a coalition of more than 150 groups in over 90 countries. IBFAN works to better infant and young child health and nutrition through the promotion of breastfeeding and the elimination of the irresponsible marketing of infant foods, bottles and teats.

IBFAN’s Code Documentation Centre, located in Penang, Malaysia surveyed 190 countries and found that:

• 20 countries have put into law or other legally enforceable measure, most of the provisions of the Code and relevant subsequent resolutions,
• 27 governments have enacted many of the Code’s provisions into law,
• 21 countries have implemented the entire Code as a voluntary measure or as national policy,
• 22 governments have drafted laws to implement the Code and are awaiting adoption by legislative bodies,
• 35 countries are still studying how to best implement the Code,
• 14 countries, including the US, and some who are in situations of conflict such as Somalia and Afghanistan, reported no action

Overall, the report concludes, there has been slow and steady progress to implement breastfeeding protection laws. The report also warned of an alarming trend by some transnational members of the infant food industry to aggressively lobby governments to dilute draft legislation, sometimes accompanied by economic threat.