EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Eldib, Eldib & Co
1. Legal Framework and Regulatory Bodies 1.1 Primary Laws and Regulation Advertising practices in Egypt are governed by a combination of sector-specific and general laws. Key statutes include: • Consumer Protection Law No 181 of 2018, which sets out obligations regarding fair advertising and prohibits misleading claims; • Law No 206 of 2017 on Regulating Advertising of Products and Services, which outlines licensing requirements and general advertising standards; • Intellectual Property Law No 82 of 2002, which covers the protection of trade marks, copyrights and publicity rights in advertising content; • the Penal Code and Civil Code, which provide for remedies in cases involving fraud or reputational harm; and • in certain sectors, additional regulation issued by authorities such as the Egyptian Drug Authority (for pharmaceutical and healthcare advertising) and the SCMR (for advertising via media platforms). 1.2 Enforcement and Regulatory Authorities Advertising regulation is enforced by several govern - ment agencies, depending on the medium and subject matter: • Consumer Protection Agency (CPA): Primarily responsible for enforcing consumer rights, includ - ing monitoring and sanctioning misleading adver - tisements; • Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR): Oversees content in print, broadcast and digi - tal media, including advertisements – the SCMR has the power to issue fines, suspend content or revoke advertising licences; • Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA): Can inter - vene in advertising practices that violate competi - tion laws, such as collusive promotions or unfair comparative claims; and • sectoral regulators – for example, the Egyptian Drug Authority monitors compliance for pharma - ceutical and medical device advertising.
Remedies include administrative penalties, manda - tory corrections or withdrawals of ads, and referral for criminal prosecution where applicable. 1.3 Liability for Deceptive Advertising Liability for deceptive advertising in Egypt may extend to: • advertisers, as the primary party responsible for content; • advertising agencies or media agencies, especially if they contribute to the content or placement of false or misleading ads; and • publishers or platforms, where they fail to comply with takedown or warning requests from regula - tors. Legal and financial penalties can be imposed, and courts may order compensation to harmed consum - ers or competitors. 1.4 What Is Advertising? The term “advertising” in Egypt is broadly defined and includes any communication intended to promote goods, services, brands or concepts to the public. This includes traditional channels (TV, radio, print), digital media (social media, search engines, websites), product placements and influencer content. It also covers sales promotions and comparative advertising. 1.5 Pre-Approvals While general commercial advertising does not typi - cally require pre-approval, certain categories of prod - ucts and services, notably in the healthcare, pharma - ceutical and food sectors, are subject to prior review and approval by the relevant sectoral regulator. Addi - tionally, advertisements aired through national broad - cast channels may require vetting by the SCMR or associated bodies. Violations may lead to suspension or fines. 1.6 Intellectual Property and Publicity Rights Egyptian law prohibits the use of third-party intellec - tual property (IP), including trade marks, copyrighted content or distinctive packaging, without prior authori - sation. Similarly, an individual’s image, voice or like - ness cannot be used in advertisements without their consent. Unauthorised use may give rise to claims for
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