WIREDGOV

Trading Standards Officers in London are now so concerned about the safety of products like toys and electrical items being sold by online platforms that they are issuing a stark warning – don’t take the risk, think extremely carefully before buying from platforms. 

London Trading Standards, the body that represents Trading Standards Services across the capital, have just written to the new Secretary of State for Business and Trade following the recent election. In the letter, they spell out the main problem which is the total inadequacy of product safety legislation in the UK which was designed long before the rise of online platforms that sell cheap, inferior goods manufactured in the Far East. As the law stands at present, those businesses that operate as a platform have limited responsibility for the safety of the products that they promote, even though they are making billions of pounds from their activity.

An online platform is a business that effectively acts as a shop window – promoting products but, crucially, not supplying the product itself. Many products sold on the platforms come from businesses based in places like China. They will use the shop window to get consumers interested in their products which are often amazingly cheap and promoted very attractively.

Steve Playle, spokesperson for London Trading Standards recently said:

“It is a pretty drastic step for us to take to warn consumers so bluntly to think carefully before buying from online platforms, but we really have no choice. Products that are shipped halfway across the world that are sold at ridiculously low prices really should be ringing alarm bells for us all.” 

Mr Playle added:

“We are very concerned about products that carry a higher safety risk to the end user, in particular electrical products, toys and cosmetics.”

A recently published report called ‘Mind the gap between the chain and the platform’ from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, the body which represents Trading Standards Officers right across the UK, has highlighted the issues. It reported that over a four-year period, between 2018 and 2022, the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) tested 545 toys sold by third-party sellers on four online marketplaces (AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, and Wish). 86% were found to be non-compliant and 48% were found to be unsafe, failing toy safety standards. More recently in May 2024, Which? published the results of their work which found serious safety problems with electric heaters sold by Temu and TikTok Shop, new entrants to the online platform scene and a follow-up investigation in May 2024 led Which? to warn consumers against buying any unbranded electronics on online marketplaces, after finding a similarly unsafe heater bought from a third-party seller at B&Q marketplace.

As just set out by the new Government, a Product Safety and Metrology Bill will be introduced with the objective of maintaining the UK’s global leadership in product regulation. This must address the emerging problem of online platforms and place a very clear legal responsibility on them. London Trading Standards wants to see legislation rushed through as quickly as possible to protect consumers and to protect businesses that take product safety seriously.

Further information linked to this Press Release

CTSI Report Link – online-marketplace-reportfinal.pdf (tradingstandards.uk)

Which? Report link

To contact London Trading Standards, please call Stuart Radnedge on 07795 22 37 39