§ 38. Mr. Dorrellasked the Secretary of State for Trade what action he proposes to take on the review of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 by the then Director General of Fair Trading and presented to Parliament as Cmnd. 6628, in October 1976.
§ Mrs. Sally OppenheimNone. The review concluded that the Act was generally fulfilling its purpose, and where possible this Government prefer to look to competition and to the development of codes of practice to improve trading standards generally. I am conscious that detailed amendments to the criminal law on general trade descriptions tend to hamper the activities of the majority of traders who are operating fairly and honestly without necessarily catching the activities of the determinedly unscrupulous. It may, however, become necessary to amend the Act depending on the outcome of certain policy decisions which are currently under review.