PRACTICES MADE PERfECT ConSuMer ProteCtion SPRING 2015 ConSuMer ProteCtion The Trading Standards Institute has released the results of a call for evidence on the P ricing Practices Guide Before May 2008, the Consumer Protection Act 1987 covered offences related to misleading prices. a statutory code of practice was created under the act, providing traders with guidance on how to avoid giving a misleading price indication to consumers. the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 then came into effect, replacing Part iii of the Consumer Protection act 1987. as a result, the code of practice ceased to exist and was replaced by Guidance forTraders, which was best practice advice with no legal force. this was later amended and became known as the Pricing Practices Guide, which is aimed at helping traders provide consumers with pricing information in a fair and transparent manner. All of the responses suggested that changes are required to the Pricing Practices Guide. These ranged from tweaking small aspects through to awholesale re-write in February 2014, the trading Standards institute (tSi) issued a call for evidence on whether or not the current Pricing Practices Guide should be reviewed. this is part of tSis new remit of delivering on most aspects of business education, under the authority of the Consumer Protection Partnership. the closing date for the call was 30 april and tSi received 62 responses from a broad range of individuals and organisations. thisincluded 25 responses from individual consumers, 10 from individual businesses and nine from individual trading Standards authorities. all of the responses suggested that changes arerequired to the Pricing Practices Guide. these ranged from tweaking small aspects through to a wholesale re-write. fIND OUT MORE View the responses to the call for evidence. there is likely to be further consultation on the proposed review of the guide in due course, and businesses are encouraged to give their views. Credits: Sylvia rook image: Jasminko ibrakovic / Shutterstock