MOSCOW, June 19 (RAPSI) – The Russian government has approved a proposal to ease the ban on using human and animal images in advertising if they are part of a trademark, Izvestia newspaper reported on Friday.

MP Viktor Zvagelsky submitted a bill to this effect to the State Duma in October 2014. The bill would mitigate the ban on using human and animal images in alcohol advertising if they are part of a registered trademark, legal name or the name of a company or sole proprietor.

Experts believe the proposal would primarily benefit foreign producers of elite alcohol products, which use the images of people and animals as part of their brands more often than their Russian counterparts, the newspaper writes.

According to the official conclusion on the bill, the government has supported Zvagelsky’s proposal, adding that it should be updated.

The document says that the term “legal name” is not accurate in this case, because the name does not have to be registered with the state but only included in a company’s constituent documents. Furthermore, the current wording of the bill could result in violations of the law, because company names are to be registered with the state.

Consumer safety authority Rospotrebnadzor has protested against lifting restrictions from alcohol advertising in Russia.

Alcohol commercials were prohibited on radio and television. A law adopted in late 2014 allowed several types of alcohol advertising. It came into effect on January 1, 2015.