§ Mr. Alasdair MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the percentage of electrical goods currently on sale in the United Kingdom which are not millennium compliant; what steps he is taking to ensure that goods which are not millennium compliant are clearly marked as such; and if he will make a statement. [66645]
§ Mr. Wills[holding answer 20 January 1999]: Only a small percentage of electrical goods on sale in the United Kingdom depend on date changes to function correctly. The 'Millennium Bug Homecheck!' brochure available from Action 2000 and major high street retailers contains a list of domestic electrical and transport equipment not affected by the date change and a list of those which are, mainly home computers, video recorders, burglar alarms, fax machines, digital cameras, answerphones, camcorders, videophones and watches. The Government have sought to make sure that suppliers of electrical goods are fully aware of their responsibilities for ensuring compliance of any such goods on sale that are affected by the date change. Many of the large retailers have tested their electrical goods and given written guarantees that they are millennium compliant.
The application of false or misleading statements to products is a criminal offence under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. Any goods falsely described as millennium compliant would be subject to controls which already exist.