Valtion elokuvatarkastamo

Valtion elokuvatarkastamo (VET) is the Finnish Board of Film Classification. Its name in Swedish, the second official language of Finland, is Statens filmgranskningsbyrå (SFB).

VET/SFB is an official institution of the Finnish Ministry of Education. It is responsible for inspecting and rating the content of movies and interactive games. Only material intended to be accessible to minors (those under 18 years of age) is subject to mandatory inspection before being released to the public. A proper notification is usually sufficient for adult material, but the board has the right to inspect any material suspected of violating laws or material which was not properly notified of. Until 2001 VET also inspected material intended for adult audiences and could prevent releasing it in Finland if the board deemed it exceedingly violent.

The distributors or the producers can appeal against decisions of VET/SFB to the government-appointed Appeal Board. Since 2003 Finland has been a participant of the pan-European PEGI-system for rating interactive games.

Age ratings

The Finnish Board of Film Classification has a film classification system under which films are classified into one of the following categories:
* 3 - For all ages
* 7 - Only for persons over 7 years
* 11 - Only for persons over 11 years
* 13 - Only for persons over 13 years
* 15 - Only for persons over 15 years
* 18 - Only for persons over 18 years

A person two years younger than the given rating is permitted to see a film in a movie theater when accompanied by an adult. This rule does not apply to the 18 rating.

Only material intended to be accessible to minors (those below 18 years of age) is subject to mandatory inspection. A proper notification is sufficient for adult material. If the material is not inspected, it is automatically classified as K-18, banning it from minors. However, the board has the right to inspect material suspected of violating laws or material which was not properly notified.

ee also

* OFLC, Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification
* BBFC, the British organisation for film classification
* CERO, the Japanese computer and video game rating system
* ESRB, the United States and Canadian computer and video game rating system
*ELSPA, the former British computer and video game rating system, replaced by the PEGI system.
* MPAA film rating system
* United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting
* USK, the German computer and video game rating system

External links

* [http://www.vet.fi/ The official site of VET/SFB]
* [http://www.minedu.fi/ The official site of the Finnish Ministry of Education]