CTSI HAS ITS SAY Some of the institutes contributions to government policy debate Alignment of EU Directives with new legislation Consultation on devolving Sunday trading rules Alignment of nine EU Single Market Directives with the New Legislative Framework: consultation on UK implementation Department for Business, Innovation and Skills September 2015 CTSI believes that having a consistent approach to regulation will ease the burden on business. For manufacturers or importers of different types of harmonised product, there will be no differences in processes and procedures. Clear obligations for each type of economic operator will ensure that all those within the supply chains will understand their responsibilities. Market surveillance will be more efcient and effective for example, the requirement for importers to hold a declaration of conformity and to provide technical documentation should ensure that only safe products are placed on the market. The improved requirements concerning traceability should make corrective actions both efcient and effective when products are subject to withdrawal or recall, it is vital to be able to trace the products up and down the supply chain. However, the draft regulations for measuring instruments (MI) and non-automatic weighing instruments (NAWI) contain a large number of anomalies, inconsistencies and grammatical errors. If they are implemented without amendment, this will lead to operational difculties that will have a detrimental effect on the intended outcomes. The only further opportunity for simplication of these draft regulations would be to synchronise all in-service requirements, whether for NAWI or MI, under a single set of regulations with common requirements. Concerning areas covered by the new Directives on which it would be benecial to have more guidance for consumers, importers and/or manufacturers, CTSI is not aware of the existence of any guidance for compliance with Directive 2014/31/EU (NAWI) this would be much welcomed by all affected parties. On the draft NAWI Regulations, CTSI notes that some differ from current legislation provisions, and would create a lower level of consumer protection in the marketplace. For instance, there is no offence of using a regulated instrument that has not undergone the appropriate conformity assessment. Lead officers: CTSI product safety and metrology teams For more information, and to contribute to consultations such as these, visit www.tradingstandards.uk Credits Published You might also like Images: Jonathan Feinstein / Smiltena / Tuesday 27 October, 2015 Consultations October 2015 Shutterstock To share this page, click on in the toolbar Consultation on devolving Sunday trading rules Department for Business, Innovation and Skills September 2015 CTSI believes that local areas should have the power to extend trading hours on Sundays and that, if these powers are devolved, all local authorities should be given the power to change Sunday trading rules. Local changes to Sunday trading rules would make no difference to trading standards ofcers. Under Schedule 2 of the Sunday Trading Act 1994, it is the responsibility of the local authority to appoint inspectors. Unlike a lot of trading standards legislation, this does not specically refer to a weights and measures (also known as trading standards) authority. We foresee no change in this arrangement, with which most authorities are comfortable. In many areas, responsibility for enforcing this legislation falls to trading standards services. We are not aware of any proposals to change this and there would be no change for trading standards services, which already enforce the 1994 act. Currently there is no evidence to suggest high levels of non-compliance such as shops opening past their legally permissible hours or undue burdens on trading standards services as a whole. A cost to trading standards services would occur if there were to be high levels of non-compliance, when local authorities would either have to fund overtime payments, or allow staff time off in lieu. This could be a signicant issue, because resources are a key concern for CTSI. UK local authority trading standards services enforce more than 250 pieces of legislation in a wide variety of areas. They have suffered an average reduction of 40 per cent in their budgets since 2010, and staff numbers have fallen by 50 per cent in the same period. Many local authorities which employ trading standards ofcers are looking to ensure that town centres are thriving, and Sunday trading may assist them in bringing residents to town centres. Lead officer: Adrian Simpson For more information, and to contribute to consultations such as these, visit www.tradingstandards.uk