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What we do

Trading Standards is a service provided by either county councils or unitary councils across the UK. The service evolved from what had previously been known as 'Weights & Measures departments'.

North Somerset Council came into existence in April 1996 following local government re-organisation and its' Trading Standards Service is a small team of 10 full time and 3 part time officers.

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Our Mission

To work towards a fair, safe and equitable trading environment for consumers and businesses alike.

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Whether you are buying a loaf of bread or a litre of petrol, arranging a loan or buying a car, moving farm animals or taking a holiday the Trading Standards Service is responsible for ensuring that sales are carried out within laws written to protect consumers and businesses from illegal and unfair practices

As a law enforcement agency we are responsible for the enforcement of over 80 Acts of Parliament and more than 1,400 associated UK & European Regulations which have an impact on practically all aspects of modern life

(See the section on legislation)

The laws we enforce include those regulating:-

• Unfair trade practices
• Weights & measures
• Underage sales (tobacco products, Fireworks, video's, DVD's, solvents and alcohol)
• Labelling, composition and chemical contamination of food
• Counterfeit goods (DVDs, cd's, clothing, car parts, tools etc)
• Prices and price marking
• Safety of consumer goods
• Composition, labelling and use of farm animal feeds and pet foods
• Consumer credit
• Farm animal movements, identification, records, welfare and disease control
• Licensing, storage and sale of fireworks
• Package holidays & timeshare
• Estate agents
• Storage and retailing of petroleum spirit
• Unsolicited goods & services
• Rogue traders
• The retail sale of poisons

We carry out this function by various means such as:-

• routine inspections of shops, factories, docks, farms and warehouses including checks on company records, shipments, products and labels;

• sampling of food, animal feed and consumer goods by formal or 'undercover' means to check their quality, composition, safety and description;

• checking advertisements of both local and national companies in local papers or on the internet;

• undertaking covert 'test purchases' of tobacco products, alcohol, fireworks, DVDs etc using volunteer teenagers (in accordance with Home Office guidelines) to ensure that these products are not sold to children;

• advising local businesses on how to meet their legal obligations and how the laws we enforce affect them;

• subscribing to the Home Authority Principle

• investigating complaints.

• prosecuting businesses for serious breaches of the law;

We also offer a comprehensive advice service to North Somerset consumers in partnership with Consumer Direct South West.

What We Cost

In the current year 2007-2008 the Trading Standards Service in North Somerset costs just £2.44 per head of population - that's only 4.7p per person per week.

Operational Information

Weights & Measures

Trading Standards Officers, as Inspectors of Weights and Measures, are responsible for checking all weighing and measuring equipment used for trade. This includes shop scales, weighbridges, petrol pumps, pub measures etc. Tests of equipment are carried out during routine inspections of premises although, with changes in the law over recent years, such tests are carried out less frequently.

New and repaired weighing and measuring equipment (used by businesses) has to be tested before being put into use and, in North Somerset, this function is carried out by South Gloucestershire Council on our behalf under a joint arrangement. Fees payable for this work are recovered by North Somerset.

If you have any trade weighing or measuring equipment which needs verification (testing) then contact
South Gloucestershire Trading Standards

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Public weighbridges in North Somerset

Operators of Public weighbridges have a legal obligation to weigh your vehicle (car, van, caravan etc), on request, for a fee. [They are only obliged to do this during their normal working hours of course.]

The fees charged are a matter for the operator to decide. North Somerset Council has no control over these charges.

For the current list of Public Weighbridges click here

Counterfeiting & Piracy

The sale of counterfeit goods such as videos, CD's, DVD's, tobacco, computer games and software, clothing etc is illegal. Legislation such as the Trade Marks Act 1994 introduce serious penalties for those convicted of such offences (up to 10 years imprisonment).

A recent report carried out for an anti-piracy group claims that "cutting software piracy can boost economies and create jobs. Countries in Western Europe could create a million jobs and boost the value of their technology sectors by £250 billion if they cut piracy rates by ten points by 2006", they claim.

The research, carried out for the Business Software Alliance anti-piracy group, revealed that piracy is stunting the growth of software firms worldwide. The BSA estimates that almost 40% of all software being used around the world is pirated.

Hidden cost

The research looked at the effects of piracy in countries that together account for 98% of the world's technology economy. The report put a value on Britain's technology sector, which includes software and hardware makers as well as associated services, of £37.5bn but said this could grow to £54.4bn by 2007 if piracy rates were slashed to 15% from their currently 25% rate.

The growth of the technology industry would contribute £10bn to the growth of the UK economy as a whole, add £2.5bn to tax revenues and create up to 40,000 jobs.

It is estimated that counterfeiting costs North Somerset Businesses around £1.5 million per year in lost turnover.

The courts have powers to order the forfeiture of all equipment used in a counterfeiting 'business'. This can include:-

• CD's / DVD's - computers, printers, scanners, master cd's, stocks of blank cd's;
• T-shirts and other clothing - printing machines, blank T-shirts;
• video's - video recorders, televisions, master video tapes, stocks of blank tapes;

For further information contact Alliance Against Intellectual Property Theft

Safety of Consumer Goods

The vast majority of products supplied to consumers are subject to safety regulations designed to protect consumers from death or injury.

For example all of the following items are covered by specific regulations:-

• Electrical goods
• Gas appliances
• Toys
• Cosmetic products
• Chemical products & pesticides
• Upholstered furniture
• Fireworks
• Personal protective equipment
• Prams, pushchairs & nursery equipment
• Pedal cycles
• Plants (labelling of hazards re poisonous plants)
• Nickel products - particularly in jewellery

• nb: laws apply equally to new and used goods sold in second hand or charity shops

A host of other goods are controlled by non-specific regulations

Guidance leaflets on a range of issues surrounding the safety of consumer goods are available to view or order in the consumer advice section

Food Standards

In North Somerset we are responsible for enforcing the wealth of legislation which regulates the composition and labelling of foods manufactured and sold to both consumers and caterers.

We adhere to national guidelines (known as the Home Authority Principle) which require us to place special emphasis on national companies based in North Somerset. The advice we give to 'Home Authority' companies is, of course, followed by that company across the UK.

During each year officers of the Service carry out routine inspections of all food premises deemed to be 'high risk' because of the nature of their operation. These inspections may be carried out at the premises of importers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, including mobile and temporary traders.

We also take up to 400 food samples annually which are submitted to the Public Analyst's Laboratory at Bristol Scientific Services and tested for quality, composition and labelling.

Guidance leaflets on a range of food standards issues are available to view or order from us in the consumer advice section

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Note:

• Registration of food premises (inc their food hygiene),
• Food safety complaints and
• The licensing of butchers shops

Animal Health & Welfare

We are responsible for the enforcement of a wide range of animal health & welfare legislation relating to commercial (farmed) livestock.

Issues such as livestock movement records, disease control, welfare of farm animals, movement licences where required, cattle passports and many other issues are all dealt with by us, often in conjunction with Veterinary Inspectors of 'Animal Health' (formerly the State Veterinary Service [SVS]) an executive agency of Defra, the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs.

Further information relating to animal health & welfare, together with advice for farmers and stock keepers, can be found in our Animal Health & Welfare Section.

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Note:

Issues regarding the licensing of pet shops, boarding kennels/catteries and riding stables (including the welfare of animals) are dealt with by our colleagues in Environmental Health. You can contact them via the main North Somerset Council website or by telephoning 01275 884146.

Welfare issues relating to pets, horses and wildlife, are dealt with by the RSPCA.

Visit the RSPCA website or telephone them on 0300 1234 999.

Fair Trading

Prices

Officers of the service regularly inspect trade premises and advertisments. During inspections prices are checked to ensure they are displayed correctly and that consumers are not mislead or overcharged.

We will investigate complaints about retailers making claims such as 'we'll beat any one else's price by 10%' or 'our prices are the cheapest in town'.

[nb the legislation controlling price marking does not give us the power to control the prices set by traders for goods and services]

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False claims and descriptions

There is a wide range of legislation relating to false claims and descriptions.

We carry out checks and investigate complaints regarding many types of claims and descriptions. These are some of the issues we deal with:-

• Membership of trade organisations (and the use of their logo's!) by businesses such as builders, plumbers, window installers, hotels and guesthouses.

• Descriptions of goods. For example -
  • 'memory size' of a computer;
  • '18 carat' gold;
  • 'Made to BS 1234';
  • 'solid oak' table;
  • mileages of cars.

• Holiday brochures and the accuracy of their descriptions.

• Claims about services. For example -
  • 'This mobile phone works anywhere in Europe';
  • 'All our engineers are CORGI registered';
  • 'We will lay 3 inches of tarmac'
  • 'We've carried out a full 12,000 mile service'.

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Rogue Traders

We investigate complaints about traders who continually and deliberately act against the interests of consumers.

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Doorstep Selling

Some traders use high pressure selling techniques to secure sales and threats of violence to secure payment

They often prey on the elderly and vulnerable. We can investigate these matters and often work in close co-operation with the police.

For more details go to our Doorstep Sellers section

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Classification of video recordings

We ensure that pre-recorded video tapes and DVDs are labelled with the correct classification, eg U / PG / 18 etc and take action where they're not. These classifications are set by the British Board of Film Classification - BBFC

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Cars

Checks on the mileages of used vehicles on sale in local garages are carried out by our officers. We accomplish this by noting the mileage of the vehicle on the garage forecourt and then contacting previous keepers, via DVLA, to check the mileage of the vehicle when traded in.

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Other Fair Trading Matters

The following are also matters that we are involved in:-

• Unfair Contract Terms
• Hallmarking
• Estate Agents and Property Misdescriptions
• Distance Selling
• Package Holidays

The service is responsible for the enforcement of legislation relating to fertilisers and animal feeding stuffs. The controls over feeding stuffs extend to both commercial livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, deer, fish & poultry) as well as to animals kept as pets.

As an important link in the food chain it's vitally important that strict controls are maintained by Trading Standards Officers over the composition and labelling of these feeds, including sampling for quality, composition, labelled declarations and possible contamination with toxins or other undesirable substances.

The labelling and composition of fertilisers is also our responsibility. We take samples of fertilisers (supplied for agriculture and garden use) which are submitted to the Agricultural Analyst in Bristol for analysis. The tests ensure that fertilisers comply with relevant legislation and that the declared levels of nutrients are present within permitted tolerances.

Back to:- Speak Out About Us What We Cost Contacting Us

Operational information - Complaints and Enquiries - Weights & Measures - Counterfeiting & Piracy - Safety of consumer goods - Animal Health and Welfare - Food standards - Fair Trading - Licensing and Registration - Agriculture & Feeding Stuffs

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