HANOI – Advertising will be banned in certain restricted public areas in the capital city, according to the recent regulation from the city government.

The regulation aimed to put advertising activities under management and issued with Decision 94/2009/QD-UBND provides details about restricted places like Ba Dinh Square and surrounding streets including Phan Dinh Phung, Nguyen Tri Phuong, Dien Bien Phu, Tran Phu and Hung Vuong.

The restricted areas include the head offices of Party and State agencies, socio-political organizations, military barracks, police stations, foreign embassies and international organizations. Historical and cultural sites, wartime relics, ranked landscapes, statues, memorial steles and religious sites are also public places that outdoor advertisers should keep way from.

Advertisers are advised to limit their billboards to under 20 square meters at certain public places such as streets around Hoan Kiem Lake and Ancient Town Quarters. Any kind of outdoor advertising there, from handmade to electric and digital devices, is not allowed to cover roofs of houses.

Cigarettes and alcohol, and milk, milk bottles and food products for infants, have been banned from advertising. The advertising of milk products for 12-to-24-month-old babies, and medicines, will be limited.

Advertisers who are licensed to operate in banned or restricted areas can maintain their activities until their licenses expire, Nguyen Duc Hoa, deputy director of the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told the Daily at a press briefing on Monday.

Existing ads that violate the new regulations will have to be corrected before the second quarter of next year.