News New office for product safety announced CTSIs chief executive Leon Livermore CTSI has welcomed the governments recent announcement to create a national body to identify consumer risks and manage responses to largescale product recalls and repairs. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) matches CTSIs previous calls for a central body on product safety and market surveillance, offering scientific and technical expertise to support local trading standards services in protecting the public. CTSI is now asking that its budget of 12m per year be aligned with a clear timetable to set up the full functions of the OPSS. The institute also anticipates a confirmed date for a future consultation to make the new office an independent body. In addition, CTSI wants the government to consider additional recommendations set out in Lynn Faulds Woods report on product safety particularly, improving the funding of trading standards, which underpins the entire product-safety and market-surveillance system. Leon Livermore, CTSIs chief executive, said: After recent tragic events, it is encouraging to see that action is being taken by the government to fill the gap in intelligence on product-safety issues, as wellas providing frontline services with the urgent support they need. We look forward to working with the new Office for Product Safety and Standards to develop a more effective system for product safety. CTSI hopes that the government pays similar attention to trading standards services in future, to ensure that the UK is prepared for Brexit. In addition to giving support and advice to local trading standards teams, the OPSS will coordinate work across local authorities when action is needed on a national scale. It will also ensure that the UK continues to carry out appropriate border checks on imported products once the UK leaves the EU. Register My Appliance The annual Register My Appliance day was held on 16 January, to encourage people to register their fridges, freezers and washing machines on the streamlined site www.registermyappliance.org.uk Developed by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances, the portal has been optimised for smartphone. It has made registration of more than 60 leading brands of old and new appliances faster and easier via mobile, tablet or PC. Why I borrowed campaign launched by IMLT moneylenders if they, or someone they know, has been bitten. The Why I Borrowed campaign uses a series of videos to tell real-life stories of people who have been put through a harrowing time because of a loan shark. One victim who got into 7,000 ofdebt with a loan shark almost took his own life because of the distress caused by the lender. Another, who took out a loan to buy a vehicle to become a taxi driver, was beaten up in front of his wife and told by the lender that the women in his family would be raped if he fell behind on his repayments. The IMLT worked with north-east scriptwriter Debbie Owen, and the Prison Radio Association to produce the videos. Istock.com /supermimicry Halton Borough Council is supporting a new campaign to encourage victims of loan sharks to come forward and report them. The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) a specialist group that investigates and prosecutes loan sharks launched its Why I Borrowed campaign on 15 January. It hopes to encourage people to report illegal Supermarkets to ban children from buying energy drinks Children are to be banned from buying energy drinks in many UK supermarkets from early March. In January, Tesco announced its decision to follow Asda, Aldi, Waitrose, Sainsburys and Morrisons in banning the sale of energy drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre to under-16s. Jane Lawrie, Tescos group communications director, said: Our customers tell us that they would like more help in stopping children buying these drinks, so we will introduce measures to prevent the sale of energy drinks to children in the UK from March 2018. We know that this isnt easy to implement so, in addition, we will create awareness in store and online, to highlight that high-energy caffeine drinks are not recommended for children, supporting the #notforchildren campaign. Asda, which has 646 stores across the UK, said an age restriction would be introduced for 84 products from 5 March. Customers wishing to buy these products, either in store or online, must be willing to show appropriate ID. The move builds on existing industry labelling guidelines, which require any soft drink with more than 150mg of caffeine per litre to carry a high caffeine content warning and state that it is not recommended for children. Simon Moore, Waitrose director of technical and corporate social responsibility, added: These drinks carry advice stating that they are not recommended for children, so were choosing to proactively act on that guidance, particularly given the widespread concerns that have been raised about these drinks when consumed by under-16s. The British Soft Drinks Association said energy drinks and their ingredients had been deemed safe by regulatory authorities around the world. Gavin Partington, director general, said: In 2010 we introduced a voluntary Code of Practice to support parents and consumers who want to make informed choices. Energy-drink manufacturers have taken all possible steps to be clear about the suitability of energy drinks. Retailers, schools and parents all have a role to play in educating children about caffeine and sugar consumption from all sources. Director gets suspended sentence after 5,000 unsafe toys seized A toy seller has been sentenced after high levels of phthalates, excessquantities of tin and other safety failures were found in counterfeit toys. Kwun Ho Chan, 28, of Hartlepool, but formerly of Cambridge, was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Cambridge Crown Court in January. He pleaded guilty to 12 charges relating to counterfeit toys and 13toy-safety offences. In October 2016, more than 5,000 counterfeit and potentially unsafe toys were seized at his home. The toys included well-known brands, such as Disneys Frozen, Secret Life of Pets, Despicable Me, Paw Patrol, Pokmon, Hello Kitty, Arsenal, Peppa Pig, Angry Birds and Big Hero 6. Chan, director of K & B Station, continued to trade despite receiving two warnings from trading standards. He was given 250 hours community service, and disqualified from being a director for two years. He was also charged with money laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which will remain on file.