pAvEl kuBArkov / ShuTTErSToCk News Encouraging signs after Scottish NPS crackdown Just one call was made to a Scottish drugs helpline about new psychoactive substances (NPS) in the first quarter of the 2016/2017 financial year, following a highly effective crackdown on their sale by Trading Standards Scotland. Operation Alexander, which was funded by the Scottish government and coordinated by the Society of Chief Officers for Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS), was launched last December in the wake of mounting evidence that NPS use was mushrooming north of the border. NPS were known as legal highs before they were banned by the UK government in May under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. Trading standards said 53 premises were targeted over 19 local authority areas, with 7,323 products with a street value of 146,460 seized or sampled. Peter Adamson,chair of SCOTSS and trading standards manager at Moray Council said: Action by councils trading standards services, Trading Standards Scotland and Police Scotland shows how effective partnership working can bring about real change to protect the public from dangerous products and harmful trading practices. Fiona Richardson,chief officer of Trading Standards Scotland, said:The acute reduction in number of those harmed by NPS in early 2016 is a fantastic result and a ringing endorsement of coordinated joint working between trading standards services with Scottish government support. Aileen Campbell, minister for public health and sport, added: Itsencouraging that there are early signs of a reduction in the numberof NPS calls to the Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs helpline. Of course we are not complacent, and we will continue to work with all our partners to reduce the availability of these potentially deadly substances, and to raise awareness of their dangers. leeds tandoori takeaway boss cooks up trouble for himself operation by West Yorkshire Trading Standards. An officer ordered a lamb bhuna, as advertised on the traders standard menu. An analysis of the food later determined that the meat used was beef. Receipts from a supplier described the product simply as meat. Riaz claimed there had been a misunderstanding between him and his supplier. David Lodge, head of trading standards, said: Consumers rightly expect to get what they pay for. Trading standards will continue to take action against takeaways or restaurants flouting the law. Councillor Pauline Grahame, deputy chair of the West Yorkshire joint services committee, said: The mis-description of food, whether verbally or in writing, is an offence and samples are taken to identify those businesses failing to comply with the law. vASinA nATAliA / ShuTTErSToCk A takeaway boss who sold a beef curry purporting to contain lamb has been given a hefty fine. Sajid Hussain Riaz, owner of Venice Pizza & Bombay Tandoori, Commercial Road, Leeds, admitted offences under the Food Safety Act 1990 at Leeds Magistrates Court on 6 September. He was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay 2,112 costs. It came after a test purchase A weighty issue: the cost of cuts The cuts to trading standards during the last parliament are becoming a major worry for Local Weights and Measures Authorities (LWMAs). According to the 2014-15 annual report from the National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO), a lack of resources for staff and the diminishing number of newly qualified inspectors for metrology work are the main concerns. As CTSI identified in its first Workforce Survey in March 2014, the cuts are forcing trading standards authorities to prioritise certain work at the expense of others. LWMAs say the level of time and money required to train an officer as a weights and measures inspector is significant, and harder to justify because of the lower priority given to metrology work. The number of full-time staff actively engaged in weights and measures work is 257 a decrease of 47 from last years figure of 304 which equates to an average of 1.2 staff per participating authority. There are 50 members studying for the Diploma in Consumer Affairs and Trading Standards legal metrology module (averaging 0.25 per authority); again this is a decrease from 67 last year (averaging 0.33 per authority). Overall, the NMROs annual report for 2014-15 found that the categories with the highest potential for equipment failure are: Medical weighing equipment Weighbridges and scales equal to, or greater than, five tonnes Non-automatic weighing instruments greater than 30kg and less than five tonnes Liquid fuel tanker meter measuring systems This is broadly in line with findings from 2013-14. In 2012/13, trading standards supported 3,087 businesses to become compliant and saved 1,181,000 for business and consumers in preventing inaccurate equipment being used for trade. The total percentage of noncompliant business was 23 per cent. farmers concerns allayed by nmro The dairy industry is fit to regulate itself, according to the National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO). Concern had been expressed by farmers about the difference between the quantity recorded by the tanker meter, when compared with what they thought was in the tank. A review sought to establish whether the problem was sufficient to warrant government intervention, new regulation, or further testing work to be carried out. The NMRO invited local authorities to participate in a fact-finding project looking at the way in which milk is measured. Evidence showed there was no overall problem. The NMRO and trading standards services are now working with the dairy industry to achieve better confidence in the measurement chain by ensuring: Effective and obvious sealing of tanker components Obvious calibration stickers on the metering system Trading standards officers witness calibrations of meters Trading standards officers calibrate farm tanks A Code of Practice for the calibration of tanker metering systems man fined after tip-off leads to contraband cigarette discovery A tip-off led Enfield Trading Standards officers to more than 500 packets of counterfeit cigarettes in the boot of a mans car. Victor Cheke, 46, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was fined 400, ordered to pay 4,000 costs and a 60 victim surcharge by Tottenham magistrates. He was also given an eight-week curfew. Enfield Council officers found the contraband in his car and home in Peterborough on 5 November, 2015. Cheke pleaded guilty, on 18 August, to one count of possession for the supply of 540 packets of counterfeit Marlboro brand cigarettes, contrary to section 92 (1) (c) of the Trade Marks Act 1994. He also pleaded guilty to possession for supply of 540 packets of cigarettes without the required health warnings, contrary to regulation 14 of The Tobacco Products (Manufacture, Presentation and Sale) (Safety) Regulations 2002. Enfield Councils cabinet member for environment, Daniel Anderson, said: Counterfeit cigarettes are even more dangerous than regular tobacco and, because they are not subject to duty fees, their sale disadvantages honest traders. Trading standards found evidence that Cheke, who sold the counterfeit cigarettes door-to-door and online, used various aliases to acquire duty-evaded cigarettes from China.