The Office for Product Safety and Standards has today (10 August 2018) published its strategy to upgrade the UK’s product safety regime.
The strategy, along with a delivery plan, is part of Safety & Standard’s commitment to deliver the highest level of protection for consumers and build confidence in the system, whilst helping British businesses to thrive.
The strategy sets out how Safety & Standards will:
Analyse: strengthening analysis to support effective decision making, making the best use of scientific evidence, risk and intelligence
Inform: providing information to support consumers in making informed choices and ensuring that businesses have the information they need to be responsible and comply with the law
Enforce: delivering responsive, effective and targeted enforcement to maintain protection, fairness and confidence
Build: creating a robust product safety system infrastructure that supports innovation and ensures the UK system is fit for the future.
Since the Office was established within BEIS in January this year, it has been working closely with the British Standards Institution, National Trading Standards, Government departments and manufacturers to upgrade the product safety system.
Actions to date include helping to develop the first Code of Practice for Product Recalls, training 250 Trading Standard Officers on the Code, reviewing compliance systems at white goods manufacturers and working with Trading Standards to strengthen our ability to stop unsafe products at the border. It is also taking steps to improve labelling for laser pointers and working with industry to improve warning notices on products containing button batteries.
Through the strategy, the Office will provide a number of specialist services centrally to support consistent national enforcement, including aspects of product testing and technical expertise.
The strategy does not lessen any of the legal responsibilities of manufacturers, importers and retailers to present safe products to the market, and to take rapid effective action when safety issues arise with their products. There are no changes to the roles and responsibilities of local authorities or other market surveillance authorities.
The strategy sets out a commitment to roundtable discussions (including a new Consumer Panel) in the Autumn, both to deliver its contents and to help develop the consultation proposals on the future of the Office.
Primary Authority across the UK will play a key role in helping to deliver these objectives.
New strategy launched to keep consumers safe and protect businesses that do the right thing
Strengthening national capacity for product safety: Strategy 2018-2020
Page also includes:
- Delivery plan 2018-2019
- Early impact: our immediate actions
- Strategic research programme
- Incident management plan