§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evidence he has as to the number of times trading standards officers have had occasion to demand that unsafe electrical imports be taken off the market.
§ Mr. FletcherTrading standards officers have no power to demand that unsafe electrical equipment be taken off the market. In the year ending 31 March 1983 there were 203 convictions relating to the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations and it is likely that in most of these cases the item was taken off the market subsequent to the serving of the notice of prosecution.
No information is available on the proportion of these cases which involved imported goods nor on the number of occasions when unsafe electrical equipment was taken off the market at the request of trading standard officers and no prosecution ensued.