Trading Standards: Services Homepage
A Local Service
Staffordshire County Council Trading Standards tailor services which meet local needs and national demands. Our role is to ensure a fair and safe trading environment for consumers and businesses in Staffordshire. We seek to achieve this by a programme of
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Education, information, advice, consultation.
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Testing of goods, inspection of trade premises and the targeting of enforcement - including the bringing of cases before a criminal court of law.
Legal Safeguards
We are responsible for 50 Acts of Parliament; the most significant of which are:
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Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 - the regulations introduce a general duty not to trade unfairly and seek to ensure that traders act honestly and fairly towards their customers
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Safety Regulations - set minimum standards for consumer goods, including toys and electrical appliances
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The Road Traffic Act - prohibits overloaded vehicles on our roads
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The Food Safety Act - safeguards the quality of whatever we eat or drink
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The Weights & Measures Act - requires that everything we buy is of the stated quantity
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Animal Health Acts - promote the health and welfare of farm animals
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Petroleum Consolidation Act - sets standards for the safe supply of petroleum.
Trading Standards operates in three broad areas:
Consumer Advice|
Business Advice|
Safer Communities
Pro-active Approach
Trading Standards Officers place strong emphasis on their preventative role. Not all breaches of the law are by deliberate intent, many are caused by ignorance or genuine misinterpretation of complex rules by otherwise honest businesses.
The process of advice, consultation - and warning - extends from basic manufacture through to the point of sale; with the emphasis on getting things right first time. This policy aims to gain the trust and co-operation of the sellers and producers of goods and services. Improved reliability is better for business and the economic well-being of the country. It also makes best use of public money to protect the consumer more efficiently.
Improved quality all round also makes it easier to track down the dishonest trader who seeks to avoid legal responsibility and who can rightly expect to face the full rigour of the law. Our publicly available Enforcement Policy makes it clear when formal action will be taken against rogue traders.
Enforcement
Sophisticated risk assessment techniques have freed us to concentrate time and resources on areas where traders are more likely to offend. Although priority is given to prevention, there is still the need to inspect shops and markets, factories and importers and enforce the law. We also check livestock in transit, monitor advertisements and labels and compare their claims with the product itself - and certify the accuracy of weighing and measuring equipment in trade use.
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