Trading standards body calls on Government for delay in timetable for Retained EU Law Bill to December 2026 due to "significant concerns" at potential for lost protections

November 1, 2022

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has urged the Government to delay the timetable for the proposed Retained EU Law Bill, describing the pace and scale of change as “daunting”.

In a report the CTSI said it had serious concerns about the potential that vital protections for both consumers and business could be lost.

The organisation added that it had "reaffirmed that legislative change on this scale cannot and should not be rushed".

The report notes that the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill would involve the “sunsetting” of retained EU law by the end of next year, if the laws are not amended or changed.

This would cover more than 2,400 pieces of legislation across 21 Government Departments and could involve the rewrite of many domestic laws.

A significant number of areas of Trading Standards work is underpinned by such legislation, the CTSI said, including:

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations – "which provide a cornerstone of huge protections to consumers from misleading claims, scams and rogue traders"
Food legislation – including requirements to label allergens and restrictions on the use of decontaminants on meat, such as the chlorine washes on chicken
Weights and Measures regulations
Animal Health
Product Safety
Intellectual Property
Business Protection from misleading marketing

John Herriman, Chief Executive of CTSI said: “So much of the work that Trading Standards does is underpinned by what is currently retained EU Law. There are always opportunities to modernise, innovate and drive reform which we naturally embrace especially now the UK has left the EU.

“However, we do have a number of significant concerns.

“Firstly, the timetable is very tight for such a mammouth rewrite of much legislation underpinning the work of Trading Standards. As we understand it, even if there is an opportunity to extend the legislative timetable by 2026, this is a huge catalogue of legislation which will need to be considered the scale of which has not been seen for decades."

Herriman said that the Government must ensure that vital consumer protections are not lost inadvertently through a desire to rush things through. "This is particularly pertinent right now, given consumers are facing record levels of detriment and that is set to get worse as our economic challenges continue. Parliament must also have the right input to these decisions rather than just Ministers in view of the ramification of getting it wrong and the impact on members of the public who at the end of the day are also voters.

“In addition, at a time when businesses need as much certainty as possible the sooner the Government can provide this, the better. While regulatory reform can provide the UK with an opportunity to do things differently, this might not always be advantageous, particularly if regulatory divergence makes it more difficult for our businesses to compete or enter markets."

The CTSI chief executive added: “Acknowledging the opportunity and necessity for reform but that this must be a thorough process given the right amount of time to get it right the logical response by the new Government would be to ensure that the sunset deadline of December 2023 is simply extended out to December 2026. This would ensure critical protections remain in place to ensure consumer confidence and that businesses have the necessary certainty, both of which will be critical factors in the helping to ensure the UKs essential economic recovery.”

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has been approached for comment.

Lottie Winson