Trading Standards are the local authority departments with the United Kingdom, formerly known as Weights and Measures, that enforce consumer protection legislation. [1]
Sometimes, the Trading Standards enforcement functions of a local authority are performed by part of a larger department which enforces a wide range of other legislation: environmental health, health and safety, licensing and so on. These departments investigate commercial organisations that trade outside the law or in unethical ways. They attempt to remedy breaches by advice or by formal enforcement action.
Trading Standards services also offer Primary Authority Partnerships [2] whereby a business can form a legal partnership with a regulator in order to obtain assured advice and support with compliance. [3]
They were originally labelled as Weights and Measures Departments because their primary function was to maintain the integrity of commercial weighing and measuring by routine testing of equipment and goods. A wide range of other legislation was allocated to them as time went on.
They now deal with more diverse issues under a wide variety of Acts, Orders and Codes of Practice, as set out by central government, working with a number of other regulatory bodies such as the Food Standards Agency and the Office for Product Safety and Standards. Such legislation includes the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, the Consumer Protection Act 1987, the Food Safety Act 1990, the Price Marking Order 2004 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Trading Standards also work with APHA and DEFRA to ensure disease controls are in place protecting residents and agriculture in the UK.
Recent priorities include prevention of sales of counterfeit goods, sales of tobacco and alcohol to under-age buyers, and action to prevent exploitation of vulnerable consumers by scams and doorstep crime. In 2017, the Trading Standards of Somerset, Devon and Torbay donated 5,000 items of counterfeit clothes to the charity Planet Zero after the clothes were seized and rebranded. [4]
Trading Standards can work together with other regulators and national supporting regulators to provide businesses with access to tailored advice and support. In 2018 Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards [5] formed their 100th Primary Authority Partnership under this government scheme.
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For example:
Food quality is a concept often based on the organoleptic characteristics and nutritional value of food. Producers reducing potential pathogens and other hazards through food safety practices is another important factor in gauging standards. A food's origin, and even its branding, can play a role in how consumers perceive the quality of products.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trade Practices Commission and the Prices Surveillance Authority to administer the Trade Practices Act 1974, which was renamed the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 on 1 January 2011. The ACCC's mandate is to protect consumer rights and business rights and obligations, to perform industry regulation and price monitoring, and to prevent illegal anti-competitive behaviour.
The presence of the logo on commercial products indicates that the manufacturer or importer affirms the goods' conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards. It is not a quality indicator or a certification mark. The CE marking is required for goods sold in the European Economic Area (EEA); goods sold elsewhere may also carry the mark.
In general, compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Compliance has traditionally been explained by reference to deterrence theory, according to which punishing a behavior will decrease the violations both by the wrongdoer and by others. This view has been supported by economic theory, which has framed punishment in terms of costs and has explained compliance in terms of a cost-benefit equilibrium. However, psychological research on motivation provides an alternative view: granting rewards or imposing fines for a certain behavior is a form of extrinsic motivation that weakens intrinsic motivation and ultimately undermines compliance.
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is a professional association which represents and trains trading standards professionals working in local authorities, business and consumer sectors and in central government in the UK and overseas.
A regulatory agency or independent agency is a government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous jurisdiction over some area of human activity in a licensing and regulating capacity.
Law enforcement in Malaysia is performed by numerous law enforcement agencies and primarily the responsibility of the Royal Malaysia Police. Like many federal nations, the nature of the Constitution of Malaysia mandates law and order as a subject of a state, which means that local government bodies also have a role to play in law enforcement, therefore the bulk of the policing lies with the respective states and territories of Malaysia. Below are some of the law enforcement bodies and agencies of Malaysia.
A food safety agency or food administration or Food Safety Authority is a government agency responsible for ensuring the safety, quality, and proper labeling of food products within a country or region. These agencies play a crucial role in protecting public health by establishing and enforcing regulations and standards to ensure that food produced, imported, processed, distributed, and sold is safe for consumption.
Food safety is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from the ingestion of a common food is known as a food-borne disease outbreak. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potential health hazards. In this way, food safety often overlaps with food defense to prevent harm to consumers. The tracks within this line of thought are safety between industry and the market and then between the market and the consumer. In considering industry-to-market practices, food safety considerations include the origins of food including the practices relating to food labeling, food hygiene, food additives and pesticide residues, as well as policies on biotechnology and food and guidelines for the management of governmental import and export inspection and certification systems for foods. In considering market-to-consumer practices, the usual thought is that food ought to be safe in the market and the concern is safe delivery and preparation of the food for the consumer. Food safety, nutrition and food security are closely related. Unhealthy food creates a cycle of disease and malnutrition that affects infants and adults as well.
Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) is a government agency that protects and promotes the interests of consumers and is based in the Australian state of Victoria. It is responsible for reviewing and advising the Victorian Government on consumer legislation and industry codes; advising and educating consumers, tenants, traders and landlords on their rights, responsibilities and changes to the law; registering and licensing businesses and occupations; conciliating disputes between consumers and traders, tenants and landlords; and enforcing and ensuring compliance with consumer laws. It is a business unit of the Department of Justice and Community Safety.
The New South Wales Food Authority is a statutory authority of Government of New South Wales, responsible for food safety and food labelling regulations in the state as well as consumer food safety promotion. It is part of the DPI Biosecurity and Food Safety Branch within the Department for Primary Industries, which is a part of the Department of Regional NSW.
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made important changes to the consumer law of the United Kingdom. Part 1 implemented European Community (EC) Directive 85/374/EEC, the product liability directive, by introducing a regime of strict liability for damage arising from defective products. Part 2 created government powers to regulate the safety of consumer products through Statutory Instruments. Part 3 defined a criminal offence of giving a misleading price indication.
The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 is a 2005 statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that demands that "No producer shall [supply or] place a [consumer] product on the market unless the product is a safe product" and provides broad enforcement powers. The regulations implemented European Union directive 2001/95/EC and revoked the General Product Safety Regulations 1994. The regulations also repealed section 10 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 which had previously imposed a more limited general safety requirement.
The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 is a United States law that increases both civil and criminal penalties for trademark, patent and copyright infringement. The law also establishes a new executive branch office, the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative (USIPER).
Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent businesses from engaging in fraud or specified unfair practices to gain an advantage over competitors or to mislead consumers. They may also provide additional protection for the general public which may be impacted by a product even when they are not the direct purchaser or consumer of that product. For example, government regulations may require businesses to disclose detailed information about their products—particularly in areas where public health or safety is an issue, such as with food or automobiles.
The Fair Trading Act 1986 is a statute of New Zealand, developed as complementary legislation to the Commerce Act 1986. Its purpose is to encourage competition and to protect consumers/customers from misleading and deceptive conduct and unfair trade practices.
Consumer protection in the United Kingdom is effected through a multiplicity of Acts of Parliament, statutory instruments, the work of various government agencies and departments, and citizens' lobby groups. It aims to ensure the market economy produces fairness and quality in the goods and services people buy. The main areas of regulating consumer affairs include:
The Belize Bureau of Standards is a government of Belize department that develops, promotes and implements standards for goods, services and processes.
The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority is the Competition regulator in Finland. It is the regulatory authority of Politics of Finland which works in the field of competition and consumer rights protection. The purpose of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority is to create healthy and effective markets in which companies and other operators act responsibly and in keeping with consumers' interests.