New Sweeps Rules in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico revised its Sweepstakes and Games of Chance Regulation removing legal barriers that previously forced advertisers to void sales promotions in the territory and to limit participation in many prize contests to only residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.

The new rules take effect Nov. 26, 2009 and open the door for Puerto Rico’s 2.9 million residents to have broader access to participate in the promotions.

Luis G. Rivera Marin, secretary of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s Department of Consumer Affairs made the announcement.

It is our duty to level the playing field between consumers and commerce,” Marin said last week at the PMA legal conference in Chicago. “We have to be concerned that [consumers] are not abused or deceived. But we have to do that with a delicate balance so that commercial businesses have certainty in the way they do business, and so we don't become overprotective in the sense that the barriers to do promotions, in this case, actually result in the undesirable cost of just having our market opt out."

Marketers have a choice of running the rules in either English or Spanish, as long as the rules and the ad copy for the sweepstakes are in the same language.