ARLINGTON, Va. — The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB), in partnership with the National Confectioners Association (NCA), has announced a new, self-regulatory initiative that promotes responsible advertising to children.

Under the Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI), participating companies agree to not advertise directly to children under 12. CCAI is modeled after the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), another CBBB-administered self-regulation program.

Six companies that make popular brands of candies are the charter participants of CCAI: Ferrara Candy Co., maker of Trolli and Red Hots; Ghirardelli Chocolate Co., maker of Ghirardelli Squares and Bars; Jelly Belly Candy Co., maker of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans and Sunkist Candies; Just Born Quality Confections, maker of Peeps and Mike and Ike; The Promotion in Motion Companies Inc., maker of Sun-Maid Milk Chocolate Raisins and Sour Jacks Sour Candy; and R.M. Palmer Co., maker of Palmer seasonal chocolate candies. They have pledged to not engage in confectionery advertising that is primarily directed to children under 12 or to advertise their candy in school to children from prekindergarten through sixth grade. They join six other confectionery companies, American Licorice Co., Ferrero USA, The Hershey Co., Mars Inc., Mondelez International and Nestle, that are CFBAI participants that do not advertise directly to children.

“CCAI follows the same principles as CFBAI, but is designed for small-to-medium size confectionery companies and has fewer administrative requirements than CFBAI,” said Maureen Enright, director of CCAI and deputy director of CFBAI. “All CCAI participants are making the same commitment: to not engage in child-directed advertising. CFBAI will independently monitor compliance and will publish periodic compliance reports, as it does for CFBAI.”

“Better Business Bureau has always felt that smaller companies can be just as much a part of the self-regulatory success story as major corporations,” said Mary E. Power, president and CEO of CBBB. “This latest initiative is yet another example of how responsible companies can join together to efficiently regulate themselves. We are delighted to build on CFBAI’s success, we appreciate NCA’s partnership on this effort and we look forward to working with them to grow the program.”

“America’s leading confectionery companies are committed to marketing their products responsibly, and participating in this program further solidifies that commitment,” said John H. Downs Jr., NCA president and CEO. “The candy companies that are members of CCAI and CFBAI make the majority of the candy on store shelves in the U.S.”