# Disclosure Rules for Gifting to Creators Outside the US

Source: https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/gifting-to-creators-outside-the-us-disclosure-rules
Published: 2026-09-25

Label it as an ad in the creator's market: 'Ad' in the UK, 'Werbung' in Germany, 'Publicité' in France. A free gift counts almost everywhere.

When you gift to a creator outside the US, their post needs a disclosure that meets _their_ market's rules, and in almost every major market a free product counts. The safe default is a clear ad label at the start of the post in the local language: "Ad" in the UK, "Werbung" in Germany, "Publicité" in France, "#ad" in Canada and Australia.

The FTC rules are a decent baseline (see the [US gifted-product disclosure guide](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/ftc-disclosure-rules-for-gifted-products)). Abroad, the accepted label changes, and so does whether "#gifted" is enough. In the UK it is not. This is a plain-English guide, not legal advice. Shipping and customs are covered separately in the [international gifting shipping guide](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/international-creator-gifting-shipping-customs).

## Whose rules apply: yours or the creator's?

Plan on the rules of the country where the audience is. Consumer regulators act for consumers in their own country. A UK creator posting to UK followers is a UK consumer-law question, whether the brand behind it is in Ohio or London.

France says this out loud. Its 2023 influencer law (Loi n° 2023-451) requires influencers based outside the EU who target a French audience to appoint a legal representative in the EU. The same law makes the advertiser and the influencer jointly liable for harm caused to third parties by the promotion.

The practical rule: brief each creator on the label for their audience's market. For a mixed audience, use the stricter label.

## The five markets at a glance

| Market | Who enforces | Label to brief | Does a no-strings gift count? | Real enforcement |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| UK | CMA (consumer law); ASA (CAP Code) when the brand also controls the content | "Ad" or "#ad", upfront. Not "#gifted". | Yes. The CMA says gifts count even with no obligation to post. | 2019: 16 celebrities and influencers gave the CMA formal undertakings to disclose when they were paid or otherwise incentivised. Since April 6, 2025 the CMA can fine up to 10% of global turnover itself. |
| Germany | Courts under the Unfair Competition Act (UWG); state media authorities (Landesmedienanstalten) | "Werbung" or "Anzeige" at the start | Yes, if the product is the focus. Consideration is presumed. An incidental product worth under 100 euros can skip the label. | 2021: the Federal Court of Justice found an influencer's unlabelled post for a jam brand that paid her unlawful. |
| France | DGCCRF (consumer fraud authority), criminal courts | "Publicité" or "Collaboration commerciale", for the whole promotion | Yes. The law covers benefits in kind. | 2021: influencer Nabilla paid a 20,000 euro settlement fine after an investigation into undisclosed paid promotion. |
| Canada | Competition Bureau (Competition Act); Ad Standards (industry guidelines) | "#ad" (gold standard). "#Gifted" is fine if no post was required. | Yes. Free products are a material connection. | 2019: the Bureau sent letters to close to 100 brands and marketing agencies telling them to review their practices. |
| Australia | ACCC (Australian Consumer Law) | A clear "Ad" or "Advertisement". The ACCC flagged "sp" and "spon" as vague. | Yes. Its 2023 sweep treated gifts as incentives that must be disclosed. | 2026: PhotobookShop paid $39,600 after telling creators not to disclose gifted photobooks. |

## UK: why "#gifted" is not enough

This is the rule US brands get wrong most often. Two bodies are involved.

The **CMA** enforces consumer protection law. Its 2025 guidance for brands says any incentive, including "gifts of any products", is payment. It tells gifting brands to "include clear instructions that any content posted as a result must be labelled as an 'Ad'. This applies, even if you don't ask for anything in return." Its guidance for creators lists #gift, #gifted, #PRHaul and #PRStay as unclear labels to avoid.

The **ASA** enforces the advertising code (the CAP Code). It gets involved when the brand also has editorial control over the post, for example by requiring a post, approving it, or suggesting a hashtag. The ASA's current advice says labels like "Gifted", "Supported by" and "In association with" are unlikely to be clear enough, and that "Ad", "Advert" and "Advertising" are very likely acceptable.

The part with teeth is new. Since April 6, 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lets the CMA decide for itself that consumer law was broken and fine a business up to 10% of global turnover, with no court case needed. Its brand guidance says a brand "may be held responsible" for content published on its behalf.

**Brief for UK creators:** "Please start the caption with 'Ad' (or use the platform's paid partnership label plus 'Ad'). UK rules treat gifted product as advertising even though you're not required to post, and '#gifted' on its own isn't enough."

## Germany: "Werbung" unless the product is incidental

German law says it is unfair to hide the commercial purpose of a post (Section 5a(4) UWG). The 2022 amendment added a useful clarification for creators: a post for another company is _not_ commercial if the creator received no payment or "similar consideration" for it. It then shifts the burden. Receiving consideration is presumed, unless the creator can show credibly that they got nothing.

A free product is consideration. The joint guide of the German state media authorities (last updated May 2025) says free products can create a commercial incentive even with no contract. If the post's motivation isn't entirely independent, mentioning the product is advertising. Their labelling matrix:

- **Product is the focus of the post or video:** "Werbung" or "Anzeige" at the start. For video, a readable "Werbung" overlay for the whole promotional sequence.
- **Product appears only in passing:** a "supported by product placement" style note, and for free products only when the value (or the total from one brand) is over 100 euros.

Enforcement mostly comes through civil lawsuits and cease-and-desist letters (Abmahnungen), not government fines. In September 2021 the Federal Court of Justice decided three influencer cases. It found that one influencer broke the law with an unlabelled post about a raspberry jam brand that had paid her. Posts where the influencers had received nothing from the brands were not unlawful.

**Brief for German creators:** "Bitte kennzeichne den Beitrag am Anfang mit 'Werbung' oder 'Anzeige'." (Please label the post "Werbung" or "Anzeige" at the start.) Use the German word. English "#ad" has not been confirmed as enough there.

### Run gifting on Shopify with Seed

Send one link. Creators pick their products and address. A draft order lands in your Shopify admin.

[Install on Shopify](https://apps.shopify.com/influencer-form)

## France: French-language label, and a contract past 1,000 euros

Loi n° 2023-451 of June 9, 2023, amended in November 2024, covers anyone who uses their audience to promote products "in exchange for" an economic benefit or a benefit in kind. A free product is a benefit in kind.

- **The label:** "Publicité" or "Collaboration commerciale" (or an equivalent), clear, legible and identifiable, suited to the format, for the whole promotion. It has to be in French. The original law made failing to disclose a deceptive commercial practice, punishable by up to two years in prison and a 300,000 euro fine.
- **Written contract threshold:** Decree n° 2025-1137 set it at 1,000 euros excluding tax, from January 1, 2026. It counts money paid plus the value of benefits in kind from one advertiser in the same year for the same promotional objective. Below that, no mandatory written contract. At or above it, you need a written contract with the clauses the law lists.

Most gifting sits well under 1,000 euros per creator. Gift a 150 euro product and pay 900 euros for a TikTok, and you have crossed it. Before that, get a French-law contract template reviewed by a French lawyer once.

Enforcement example: in 2021, the influencer Nabilla paid a 20,000 euro settlement fine after the DGCCRF found she had promoted a trading-training site on Snapchat without saying she was paid. That was under general consumer law, before the 2023 law existed.

**Brief for French creators:** "Merci d'indiquer 'Collaboration commerciale' ou 'Publicité' de façon visible pendant toute la publication." (Please show "Collaboration commerciale" or "Publicité" visibly for the whole post.)

## Canada: the one place "#gifted" is fine

The Competition Bureau's influencer guidance lists free products, discounts and free trips as material connections. It says that tagging a brand or posting a discount code is "unlikely to be enough" as a disclosure. Brands are in scope too. In December 2019 it wrote to close to 100 brands and agencies telling them to review their practices.

The day-to-day standard is the industry's Ad Standards Influencer Marketing Disclosure Guidelines (October 2025 edition). They list #ad, #sponsored, #[Brand]Partner and #Gifted as clear. #Gifted is for "where the influencer is not required to post about the brand but received a free gift". #ad on its own is the "gold standard". Vague tags like #collab, #spon, #PR and #PRHaul are called out as unclear.

**Brief for Canadian creators:** "If you post, add #gifted near the top. If we've agreed you'll post, use #ad."

## Australia: the ACCC is actively fining gifting

Australia's rules come from the general ban on misleading conduct in the Australian Consumer Law. The ACCC's 2023 sweep reviewed 118 influencers and found 81% made posts that raised concerns. The most common problem was not disclosing "payment, gifts or other incentives". It also flagged vague labels like "sp" and "spon" and disclosures hidden in hashtag walls.

The case every gifting brand should know is from March 2026. Online photobook seller PhotobookShop paid $39,600 under two ACCC infringement notices. It had arranged 107 influencer reviews in exchange for gifted photobooks worth about $50 to $400 each, and asked creators not to disclose the gift. The penalty fell on the brand.

**Brief for Australian creators:** "Please label the post as an ad ('Ad' or 'Advertisement') at the start, not in the hashtags."

## What to actually put in your brief

You don't need five legal memos. You need one paragraph in your [creator brief](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/creator-gifting-brief-template) that switches on the creator's country, plus a record that you sent it.

1. **Ask the creator's country and main audience** when you collect the address.
2. **Paste the one-line brief for that market** from the sections above into your outreach and your gift terms.
3. **Never ask a creator to hide a gift.** That is exactly what the ACCC fined PhotobookShop for.
4. **Spot-check the post when it goes live** and ask for a fix within 48 hours if the label is wrong. Every regulator here expects brands to correct things once they know. Our playbook for [a creator who posted without disclosure](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/creator-posted-without-disclosure-what-to-do) has the DM.
5. **Keep the record.** The brief, the agreed terms and the post link, per creator.

If your gift form shows terms the creator has to tick before submitting, put the market-specific label line in those terms. On Seed, a required terms checkbox is re-checked on the server and recorded against the order, so you have proof the creator saw the disclosure ask. For a reusable version of all this, see the [one-page influencer disclosure policy template](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/influencer-disclosure-policy-template).

## What this costs, and when to pay a lawyer

Doing it right costs about an hour to set up the per-country lines, then a minute per creator. Doing it wrong can mean a CMA fine, a German cease-and-desist letter with the other side's legal fees attached, or an ACCC infringement notice like PhotobookShop's.

Pay a local lawyer when you move past gifting in one of these markets: paid French deals near the 1,000 euro threshold, a UK ambassador program where you approve content, or German campaigns at volume. For gifts with a correct label and a record, you don't need one.

## FAQ

### Is #gifted enough for UK influencers?

No. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority says any gift must be labelled as an ad, even if the creator had no obligation to post, and it lists #gifted as unclear. The ASA also says "Gifted" is unlikely to be clear enough. Use "Ad" or "#ad" at the start of the post.

### Which country's disclosure rules apply when a US brand gifts to a foreign creator?

In practice, the rules of the country whose consumers the post targets, which usually means the creator's audience. Consumer regulators act on behalf of their own consumers, and France's 2023 influencer law explicitly covers influencers based outside the EU who target a French audience. Being a US company does not take you out of scope.

### Do German influencers have to label gifted products as Werbung?

Usually yes. Under Section 5a(4) of Germany's Unfair Competition Act, a post for another company is commercial if the creator received payment or a similar consideration, and receipt is presumed unless the creator shows otherwise. The media regulators' guide says free products featured prominently must be labelled "Werbung" or "Anzeige". Only a product shown incidentally, worth under 100 euros, can skip the label.

### What label do French influencers need for a free product?

"Publicité" or "Collaboration commerciale", clear and legible for the whole promotion. France's 2023 influencer law covers promotion in exchange for an economic benefit or a benefit in kind, and a free product is a benefit in kind. Since January 1, 2026, a written contract is also required once pay plus product value from one advertiser reaches 1,000 euros excluding tax in a year.

### Is #gifted acceptable in Canada?

Yes, when the creator really had no obligation to post. Ad Standards' industry guidelines list #Gifted as a clear disclosure for a free gift with no requirement to post, and call #ad the gold standard. If you asked for a post, use #ad.

## FAQ

**Is #gifted enough for UK influencers?**
No. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority says any gift must be labelled as an ad, even if the creator had no obligation to post, and it lists #gifted as unclear. The ASA also says 'Gifted' is unlikely to be clear enough. Use 'Ad' or '#ad' at the start of the post.

**Which country's disclosure rules apply when a US brand gifts to a foreign creator?**
In practice, the rules of the country whose consumers the post targets, which usually means the creator's audience. Consumer regulators act on behalf of their own consumers, and France's 2023 influencer law explicitly covers influencers based outside the EU who target a French audience. Being a US company does not take you out of scope.

**Do German influencers have to label gifted products as Werbung?**
Usually yes. Under Section 5a(4) of Germany's Unfair Competition Act, a post for another company is commercial if the creator received payment or a similar consideration, and receipt is presumed unless the creator shows otherwise. The media regulators' guide says free products featured prominently must be labelled 'Werbung' or 'Anzeige'. Only a product shown incidentally, worth under 100 euros, can skip the label.

**What label do French influencers need for a free product?**
'Publicité' or 'Collaboration commerciale', clear and legible for the whole promotion. France's 2023 influencer law covers promotion in exchange for an economic benefit or a benefit in kind, and a free product is a benefit in kind. Since January 1, 2026, a written contract is also required once pay plus product value from one advertiser reaches 1,000 euros excluding tax in a year.

**Is #gifted acceptable in Canada?**
Yes, when the creator really had no obligation to post. Ad Standards' industry guidelines list #Gifted as a clear disclosure for a free gift with no requirement to post, and call #ad the gold standard. If you asked for a post, use #ad.