CtSI HaS ItS SaY Some of the institutes contributions to government policy debate Pension Freedom Guidance & Advice inquiry Questionnaire on Contract Rules for Online Purchases of Digital Content and Tangible Goods Pension Freedom Guidance & Advice inquiry House of Commons Work & Pensions Committee, august 2015 The implementation of the revised Tobacco Products Directive Trading standards teams, based in local authorities, take a major role intackling scams and mis-selling issues. CTSI is concerned at the growth of scams targeted at pensioners, and the lack of pertinent consumer information. Boiler room scams offering false investments are a huge threat and further education is needed to ensure consumers dont fall into the trap of investing. Victims of pension scams may not be those who are conventionally seen as vulnerable. However, the lack of relevant information or detailed guidance on fraud given to individuals who cash in their pension pots for a large monetary sum combined with easier access to these large amounts of money mean that greater numbers of people are potentially at risk. Further safeguarding measures should be introduced to ensure all consumers are adequately educated on the variety of investment options available to them including detailed information on the threat of investment scams, and the tactics scammers may use to try to deceive potential investors. At present, there is no requirement for pension providers to offer such information on these threats. CTSI is aware of multiple cases of so-called boiler room scams where individuals have been encouraged to cash in ISAs and invest their money sometimes amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds in high-value products such as wine, property, or diamonds. Individuals are almost certainly now being encouraged to cash in their pension funds and invest in such scams, under the radar of trading standards. Not only are individuals with direct access to large sums of money more susceptible to being defrauded but, at present, there is no requirement for pension providers to record where customers plan to spend or invest their funds or to provide a written record of what advice has been provided before fund access. Contributed by: CTsi policy team For more information, and to contribute to consultations such as these, visit www.tradingstandards.uk Credits Published You might also like Images: Birgit Reitz-Hofmann / Tarchyshnik Tuesday 29 September, 2015 CTSI has its say September 2015 Andrei / simone mescolini / Shutterstock To share this page, click on in the toolbar Questionnaire on Contract Rules for Online Purchases of Digital Content and Tangible Goods European Commission, September 2015 Digital content products markets are growing rapidly, but specific remedies are lacking at EU level when problems arise. Also, users cannot influence the content of take it or leave it contracts, which may limit their rights and may exclude rights to compensation if, for instance, digital content products cause damage to the computer and limit compensation solely to extra credits for future service. Some member states including the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland have enacted or started work on adopting specific legislation on digital content products, potentially further increasing differences between national rules that businesses would have to consider when offering digital content products throughout the EU. Since the start of the rise of information and communications technology (ICT) in the consumer market, UK trading standards professionals have encountered problems, with uncertainty over the status of intangible electronic content. Digital content, such as downloads and streamed content, share characteristics of both goods and services with differences from both creating uncertainty that makes advising consumers and enforcing consumer law difficult. CTSI welcomes the introduction of the concept of digital content in the Consumer Rights Directive. However, as this only covers information provision, cancellation and some performance matters, CTSI believes its time for the EU to tackle product quality and remedies for digital content contracts, affording the consumer the same protection when buying these products as for anything else. Several UK measures currently being introduced in the Consumer Rights Act may be appropriate models for application across the EU. New consumer laws, on digital content or anything else, can only be effective if the network of enforcement and dispute resolution across the EU in which trading standards is a crucial part is effective. The EU must drive this process forward, and law enforcers must be involved. Lead officer: David Mackenzie For more information, and to contribute to consultations such as these, visit www.tradingstandards.uk implementation of the revised Tobacco Products Directive Department of Health, September 2015 CTSI has provided a comprehensive response to the consultation on the implementation of the revised Tobacco Products Directive. This covered a wide range of areas, including ingredients and emissions, labelling and health warnings, illicit trade, cross-border distance sales of tobacco products and e-cigarettes, authorisation/notification of novel tobacco products and electronic cigarettes. When it comes to labelling and health warnings, the institute said it would be practical for the government to implement this provision of the Directive to mean images targeted at consumers that are used to promote the sale of products; for example, retailer websites offering products for sale. The draft regulations, however, imply that evidence of intent to target consumers would be required to prove the offence. CTSI also draws attention to past experience, when the tobacco industry has employed creative means to continue to promote tobacco products, despite the implementation of legislation, specifically the TAPA 2002 and Point of Sale Regulations. Power walls, clocks and counter-top boxes were all prevalent when the Point of Sale Regulations were first implemented. These were not envisaged when the regulations were drawn up. Trading standards services (TSSs) are now seeing the use of tobacco-company logos on gantry closures during the review of display compliance these were not present previously. When it comes to cigarettes, CTSI has no evidence of any packaging shape that would prevent health warnings appearing on secondary surfaces (defined as the next two largest surfaces of the pack, after the front and back surfaces). The draft regulations require producers to ensure the correct health warning is applied to tobacco products. It is CTSIs view that retailers who repackage tobacco products become, effectively, producers of the product, so should take full responsibility for compliance with all relevant legislation. Lead officer: Jane Macgregor For more information, and to contribute to consultations such as these, visit www.tradingstandards.uk