Here in Australia, it's a voluntary code.

Publishers, for instance, say that until the government makes it a
compulsory one, they are in business. At the recent Nursing Mothers'
International Conference, one such magazine (for parents) was an
acknowledged sponsor, the magazine contains adverts for formula etc and was
included in the packets. The publisher maintains that whilst they support
breastfeeding, their competitors aren't going to change, so neither are
they.. and if they tell the advertising agency that they won't accept
formula ads, their other advertisements will fall away to competitors too..
Of course, as long as the magazines are given such credibility and
exposure, there's no pressure on the advertisers to change anyway.

As for accepting sponsorship from such magazines and having them in your
conference folders at a breastfeeding conference, that's another major
issue.

I've recently registered for a 'baby club' with an international company in
the infant food industry to do some monitoring, and almost daily I'm
getting direct marketing from a whole range of similar companies. (I did
say my 'first baby' was born 22 years later than he was to gather this
material.)

Jan Cornfoot
Brisbane, Australia