Legislation and Enforcement
Last updated | 27/05/2008
Trading Standards enforce a wide range of consumer/trade related legislation, for example the Weights and Measures Act 1985, the Consumer Protection Act 1987, the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
The legislation involved is made up of numerous major Acts of Parliament and hundreds of regulations affecting almost all businesses to a greater or lesser extent. |
Animal Health & Agriculture
- Welfare and treatment of livestock, identification (ear tags, passports), movement of livestock.
- Animal Disease control (Bird Flu, Foot & Mouth, BSE)
- Composition and labelling of fertilisers and animal feeding stuffs (including pet foods).
Fair Trading & Pricing
- Bogus degrees – fake degrees & qualifications
- Consumer Credit – licensing, agreements, advertising
- Counterfeits & Trade Marks – copyright, fakes & copies
- Distance Selling & E-commerce – online businesses & mail order
- Fair trading & the Enterprise Act – no refund notices, Stop Now notices.
- Footwear labelling
- Hallmarking – marking of precious metals, display of notices
- Package Travel & Holidays - advertising, brochures, contracts & pricing
- Pricing – general pricing of goods & services, menu pricing
- Property descriptions – misleading statements, Estate Agents
- Timeshare – contracts, cancellation
- Unfair Trading & Misleading Marketing – misleading statements & omissions, descriptions of goods & services, aggressive sales techniques
- Videos & DVDs – classification (15, 18 etc.), labelling
Licensing & Registration
- Better Business Partnership – local trusted trader scheme
- Fireworks & Explosives
- Feeding stuffs
- Petroleum
- Poisons
Petrol & Petroleum Products
- Licensing, storage & dispensing of petrol including farms & estates. Liquid Petroleum Gas at filling stations.
- Plastic containers & carrying petrol safely
Safety
- General Product Safety – safety & labelling of consumer goods, CE marking
- Fireworks & Explosives
- Poisons
Underage Sales
- Age Restricted Products – tobacco, fireworks, lottery, butane gas, spray paints, videos
Weights & Measures
- Equipment Used for Weighing & Measuring – ‘optics’, weighing machines, petrol pumps, public weighbridges
- Short Measures Marking & labelling, average weight
Miscellaneous
- Cancellation of Contracts
- Televisions & Telecommunications Equipment
- Business Names
- Green legislation - energy conservation, pollution and waste
