Regulatory Compliance

Advertising review procedures, representation management systems, and oversight of external providers

Advertising reviews involve not only assessing individual wording but also checking whether supporting information is accurately passed on at each stage of production, review, and publication. The Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (the "Premiums and Representations Act") requires a business operator to establish systems and take other necessary measures for the proper management of premium offers and representations.

The management measures guidelines set out seven items concerning these measures, but state that the measures needed vary according to a business operator's size, business model, and other circumstances. The guidelines state that the examples in their annex are illustrative and that different measures are acceptable if they are appropriate for preventing misleading representations or unlawful premium offers.

The first half of this page (Sections 1 and 2) explains the legislation and guidelines, and the second half (Sections 3 and 4) presents examples of review and external provider management practices that we propose. The examples in the second half are not procedures uniformly required by legislation or guidelines.

Reviewed by Keishi Yoshikawa, Attorney at Law and Patent Attorney (Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association)

Last updated: September 27, 2026

What to check first

The following are examples of matters a company may wish to check when reviewing its systems for managing representations.

Scope of management — Identify what is to be managed, including advertisements, product pages, in-store representations, sales materials, and plans for promotional premiums.
Location of supporting information — Check which departments hold the information supporting representations, such as product information, test results, and pricing information, and who checks that information.
Policies and communication — Check the company's legal compliance policies and what has been communicated to officers, employees, and external providers.
Responsible persons and authority — Check the authority of the person or department responsible for managing representations and premium offers, the allocation of roles among departments, and where to seek advice when a decision is unclear.
Review procedures — Check whether procedures cover submissions for review, approval, comparison with the published version, and changes after publication.
Communication channels with external providers — Check the channels for communicating requests, revisions, and instructions to stop publication to advertising agencies, affiliate service providers (ASPs), affiliate marketers, influencers, and other external providers.
Automatically generated representations — Check who creates or changes the content of representations, and at what stage, when search advertising or generative AI is used.
Records and complaint channels — Check whether supporting information, approval records, and publication histories can be retrieved, and whether concerns and complaints reach the responsible person.

After assessing the current arrangements, the company may consider putting procedures in place, starting with those it needs in light of its size and the products it handles.

How we can helpReviewing current systems / Designing review procedures and allocating roles / Contracts and communication channels with external providers / Managing search advertising and generative AI / Measures to prevent recurrence

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Contents

1 Preventive systems under the Premiums and Representations Act and the management measures guidelines
2 Record retention, responses when problems are identified, and their legal significance
3 Our proposed procedures for advertising reviews
4 Our proposed practices for managing external providers and digital advertising
Key legislation and official sources
Frequently asked questions

1 Preventive systems under the Premiums and Representations Act and the management measures guidelines

Businesses covered and measures suited to their size and business model

The management measures required under the Premiums and Representations Act apply to a business operator that offers premiums or makes representations in connection with transactions involving the goods or services it supplies. The management measures guidelines state that the measures needed vary from one business operator to another. They also state that small enterprises and other small and medium-sized enterprises are not necessarily required to take measures equivalent to those of large enterprises if they take sufficient measures for their size, business model, and other circumstances. Which rules relate to which advertisements and promotional plans is explained in "Responding to issues under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations."

The seven items listed in the guidelines

The management measures guidelines identify the following seven items as measures to be taken.

Communicating and promoting an understanding of the principles of the Premiums and Representations Act
Clarifying legal compliance policies and procedures
Checking information concerning representations and premium offers
Sharing information concerning representations and premium offers
Designating persons or departments responsible for managing representations and premium offers
Taking the measures necessary to allow subsequent checking of information supporting representations and premium offers
Responding promptly and appropriately when misleading representations or unlawful premium offers are identified

The person or department responsible for management and their authority

The management measures guidelines provide that a business operator is to designate in advance a person or department responsible for managing representations and premium offers (the "designated person or department"). The requirements include authority to monitor and supervise the company's representations and premium offers; authority to give instructions concerning, and check, representations and premium offers prepared by another business operator when their preparation is outsourced; clearly defined authority or responsibilities where more than one person or department is designated; efforts to acquire a certain level of knowledge of the Premiums and Representations Act; and an established method for making the designation known within the company and to others concerned.

The guidelines state that the designated person or department does not necessarily need to be dedicated exclusively to this role. If a person or department responsible for general legal compliance or similar matters can manage representations and premium offers as part of its work, designating that person or department is sufficient. The CAA Q&A on the management measures guidelines states that the designated person or department does not need to file a notification with an administrative authority or hold qualifications or licenses (CAA Q&A, Q26). The Q&A also states that, where franchise stores in practice make their own representations or premium offers, each store needs to designate its own person or department (CAA Q&A, Q30).

2 Record retention, responses when problems are identified, and their legal significance

Keeping supporting information available for subsequent checking

The management measures guidelines provide that a business operator is to take necessary measures, such as retaining documents, so that the information it has checked concerning representations and premium offers can be checked subsequently throughout the period during which the goods or services can reasonably be expected to be supplied to general consumers. They state that the same applies when the preparation of representations and premium offers is outsourced to another business operator. The CAA Q&A on the management measures guidelines states that the materials to be retained are limited to those checked as the basis for the representations or premium offers, and that an appropriate retention period may be set in light of factors such as the period during which the goods are distributed (CAA Q&A, Q31 and Q32). For services consumed immediately, an example in the annex to the guidelines gives a period of 3 months (CAA Q&A, Q33). This is an example; the period is set to reflect how the goods or services are actually distributed or supplied (CAA Q&A, Q32).

The company determines in advance the retention period and method for materials relating to each of the goods or services it handles, taking account of the period of distribution or supply.

When misleading representations or unlawful premium offers are identified

The management measures guidelines identify the following responses when misleading representations or unlawful premium offers are identified: promptly and accurately establishing the facts, promptly and appropriately eliminating misperceptions among general consumers, and taking measures to prevent recurrence. This page addresses establishing, as part of day-to-day arrangements, reporting channels for concerns and authority to stop using representations. Public announcements, refunds, and dealings with the authorities are covered on our page on alleged violations, voluntary correction, and regulatory responses.

Guidance, advice, recommendations, and publication

Under the Premiums and Representations Act, the authority may, where it considers this necessary in relation to the required management measures, provide necessary guidance and advice to a business operator. If it finds that the business operator has failed to take those measures without justifiable grounds, it may recommend that the business operator take the necessary measures, and if the business operator does not follow the recommendation, it may publicize that fact.

The relationship with "reasonable care" for surcharge purposes

Under the Premiums and Representations Act, payment of a surcharge may not be ordered if it is found that, throughout the period during which the business operator engaged in the conduct subject to the surcharge, the business operator did not know that its representations were misleading and its lack of knowledge was not attributable to a failure to exercise reasonable care. The CAA's views on the basic requirements for orders to pay a surcharge state that this is assessed case by case, based on whether the business operator exercised the care required in light of normal business practices, such as checking the information supporting the representations. They give as an example a case in which the business operator had taken specific measures consistent with the management measures guidelines to a necessary and appropriate extent. The same document states that payment is to be ordered if the business operator is found to have failed to exercise reasonable care at any point during the period of the conduct subject to the surcharge. It gives as an example a case in which the business operator received reports from employees or concerns raised by third parties during that period but did not conduct the necessary and appropriate investigations, checks, or similar steps.

3 Our proposed procedures for advertising reviews

This section and the next present examples of practices that we propose. Legislation and guidelines do not uniformly require a particular review route or procedure for every case.

Assembling the information needed for a review submission

We propose organizing, at the submission stage, the draft advertisement together with information on the product concerned, the advertising medium and publication period, supporting materials, applicable conditions, and the results of previous reviews.

Assigning responsibility for checks and setting approval conditions

We propose allocating responsibility for verifying facts, such as product specifications and sales terms, separately from responsibility for legal assessment, and setting review routes and approval conditions according to the advertisement's content and the extent of its impact. The management measures guidelines state that each business operator is to take the measures needed for its size, business model, the goods or services it handles, the nature of its transactions, and other circumstances, and that the measures needed vary from one business operator to another.

Comparing approved content with what is actually published

Wording may change, or notes explaining applicable conditions may be omitted, when materials are submitted for publication or advertisements are served. We therefore propose comparing the approved version with the version actually published and retaining a record of the comparison.

Rechecking changes and ending publication

We propose determining whether further checks are needed when product specifications, advertising claims, prices or conditions, or advertising media change, and also checking whether outdated representations remain in use.

4 Our proposed practices for managing external providers and digital advertising

Advertising agencies, affiliate marketers, and influencers

The management measures guidelines require the designated person or department to have authority to give instructions concerning, and check, representations and premium offers prepared by another business operator when their preparation is outsourced to that operator. We propose assigning roles concerning the terms of the assignment, permissible wording, supporting information, authority to revise or stop publication, communication to subcontractors, and checks of what is actually published. The annex to the guidelines lists advance checks of representations that affiliate marketers are engaged to prepare. Where staffing constraints or other circumstances make it difficult to check all content before publication, it gives examples of checking all content as early as possible after publication, prioritizing checks of content published by affiliate marketers receiving larger or more frequent performance-based payments, and outsourcing checks to other business operators, such as ASPs. These are illustrative examples and are not uniformly required measures. For advertisements served automatically, we propose establishing checking procedures that take account of how the content being served changes, the information available for checking, and how delivery can be stopped if a problem is found.

Search advertising and automatic changes to wording

We propose checking the ad copy entered in the advertising system against the wording actually displayed, checking the settings for automatic keyword insertion and automatic text generation, and checking consistency with the conditions stated on the landing page.

Creating advertisements using generative AI

Even when copy is created using generative AI, it is the business operator that determines the content of the representations and makes those representations, so the content needs to be checked against the supporting information. We propose managing the information entered, the generated claims and their supporting grounds, checks performed by people against source materials, and records of revisions and decisions to use the copy, and establishing procedures to avoid using fabricated supporting grounds or testimonials in advertisements.

Using review findings to update rules and training

We propose reviewing procedures in light of findings such as errors in representations, materials returned for revision, and complaints. Information on how we conduct training is available on our page on "In-house and compliance training."

Key legislation and official sources

English translations of legislation are provided for reference. The Japanese texts are authoritative.

Article topic	Legislation or official source	Source type and English version reviewed
Duty to take management measures; guidance, advice, recommendations, and publication; reasonable care for surcharge purposes	Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations— Japanese text on e-Gov	Legislation. English translation (earlier version). The translation identifies its last version as Act No. 29 of 2023.
Seven items, designated persons or departments, record retention, responses when problems are identified, outsourcing, and illustrative examples in the annex	Management measures guidelines	Official guidance (Japanese). English title translated by the firm.
Qualifications and notification, franchise stores, and retention of materials and periods	CAA Q&A on the management measures guidelines, Q26, Q30, and Q31–Q33	Official guidance (Japanese). English title translated by the firm.
Case-by-case assessment of reasonable care	CAA views on the basic requirements for orders to pay a surcharge	Official guidance (Japanese). English title translated by the firm.

Legal information reviewed: September 27, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Must every advertisement be reviewed by a legal department or a lawyer?

In our view, legislation and guidelines do not uniformly require a particular review route for every advertisement. One option is to design review routes according to the content of the representations and the scope of any changes.

Are qualifications or notification to an authority required for the designated person or department?

The CAA Q&A on the management measures guidelines states that notification to an administrative authority and qualifications or licenses are not required (CAA Q&A, Q26). The guidelines also state that the designated person or department does not necessarily need to be dedicated exclusively to this role, and that if a person or department responsible for legal compliance or similar matters can manage representations and premium offers as part of its work, designating that person or department is sufficient. The guidelines provide for the designation of a person or department and set out requirements concerning authority, efforts to acquire knowledge, methods of communicating the designation, and other matters.

Must every example in the annex to the management measures guidelines be implemented?

The guidelines state that measures different from the examples in the annex are acceptable if they are appropriate for preventing misleading representations or unlawful premium offers. The company considers measures suited to its size and business model in line with the seven items.

Is it enough to state in the contract with an agency that it must comply with laws and regulations?

Where the preparation of representations is outsourced to another business operator, the management measures guidelines call for authority to give instructions and conduct checks, as well as measures such as retaining documents. One option is to check not only the contract wording but also whether instructions and checks are carried out in practice.

Does having management systems in place rule out problems with misleading representations?

Taking the management measures required under the Premiums and Representations Act is a separate question from whether an individual representation is misleading. "Reasonable care" for surcharge purposes is also assessed case by case, considering matters such as checks of the information supporting the representations.

Can internal checks be omitted if generative AI or a review by the advertising media provider is used?

Even when these are used, it is the business operator that determines the content of the representations and makes those representations, and the content needs to be checked against the facts about the company's products and the applicable conditions.

Contact

Making an inquiry

Please let us know, as far as you are able, your current review procedures (such as policies, workflows, and forms), the external providers involved, and the issues you wish to address.