The ISBA, the British advertisers' representative body, has hit out at the 2012 Alcohol Concern Youth Policy campaign, claiming it is factually incorrect and "misinformed".

According to Ian Twinn, ISBA's director of public affairs, the Youth Alcohol Advertising Council's Summer 2012 report "exposes some serious gaps in its own understanding of the self-regulatory system".

The Youth Alcohol Advertising Council (YAAC) is made up from a group of young people coordinated by Alcohol Concern that review advertisements that break the spirit of advertising codes.

Twinn said he agreed all advertisers should respect the codes of practice. "However, the report is sadly misinformed when it says the system is "voluntary" – it is not. The CAP and BCAP codes apply to all advertising and commercial communications in the UK. Alcohol Concern is also wrong when it says in its report that investigations can only be undertaken by the ASA following a complaint; in fact, the ASA has the power to investigate any advert regardless of a complaint," he said.

He added: "If members of YAAC feel the rules have been broken, they are, of course, right to complain and advertisers will respect the ASA's rulings. It would be nice if Alcohol Concern did too."

In response to the accusations, Alcohol Concern youth policy co-ordinator Tom Smith said: "Getting into technicalities on how voluntary the codes are rather misses the point – the fact is they are not statutory, and alcohol advertising can be released into the media and then withdrawn later without sanction if it is subsequently found to be in breach."

The Youth Alcohol Advertising Council Summer 2012 report can be found here