The aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes creates a major barrier to breastfeeding. Following the adoption of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes in 1981, governments have been called upon repeatedly by the World Health Assembly to give effect to the provisions in the Code through national legislation. Questions have sometimes been raised on whether national legal measures on the Code might be inconsistent with international trade agreements. International trade agreements recognize the right of States to regulate for the purposes of protecting human health. National implementation of the Code has never been formally disputed under an international trade agreement.

Source: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240002722 (accessed in 2024)

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