The Brazilian Association of Audiovisual Production (APRO) annonced on the sidelines of Cannes Lions 2016 that the entity has aproved new compliance and governance rules against production VB (“volume bonification”, based on the word bonus) as the association considers this as an unfair practice.
APRO aims to lead a nationwide movement in its domestic market to establish compliance and governance rules for the audiovisual sector. That’s why launches a new Code of Conduct. The entity has been working hard together with advertisement agencies and association members to try to eradicate the controversial payment of volume bonification (also known as bonus or rebate).
The rebate is not always passed on to the clients
The VB volume discount or compensation from production companies based on volume is not necessarily passed on to reduce the client costs. The USA, Spain, and China are other countries where the VB is widely spread. APRO is peoneering this official initiative to fight against this usual and sometimes unclear practice.
Following the new APRO rules, all its affiliated production companies are not allowed to receive these rebates. Any member – present or new – that disobeys the rule will lose its APRO member status.
The document was approved at a general meeting, and all associated parties were informed about the new Code of Conduct and had time to decide whether or not to continue as APRO members following the new strict rules.
According to the association’s President, Paulo Schmidt, the new set of compliance rules was demanded by the major associated production companies based on the policy of maintaining good practices in the audiovisual market. “APRO believes that following members’ claims taken this position is part of its job and necessary to develop and drive the market in a clear and fair way,” he said.
APRO is a founder of the FilmBrazil project that promotes Brazilian talents
and productions abroad, through workshops and sponsoring events like Cannes Lions. It’s a powerful entity in a country that ranks in the top markets for advertising in the world and where TV is still the medium of choice for most advertisers. In 2015, TV + payTV received 69.6% of the advertising investments, according to Kantar Ibope Media.
An industry action to stand out against corruption
The 2008 financial crisis made clear the need for embracing compliance rules and not only in the United States. Despite this some business practices in the communications market remain unclear or unfair. The controversial and recent study released by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the United States shows the regular and payment of BV to agencies, based on the volume of production, for instance.
Currently, Brazil is struggling with corruption everywhere, all the time. Unfortunately, the recent public accusations and government changes do not take Brazil off the list of countries that have no commitment to the goals set by the global civil organization, “Transparency International,” that fights against corruption across the world.
Signed by Brazil in 2000, the Convention was responsible for the Law 12.846/13 – better known as the Anticorruption Law – almost 13 years after the country joined the international agreement. The 41 countries that have signed the Convention are divided into four categories, ranging from “high commitment” to “no commitment.” Fifteen years after the Convention, only nine countries have displayed a moderate or high commitment.
