§ Mr. Rentonasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he intends to modify his recent proposals on the origin marking of certain consumer goods, in the light of representations made to him.
§ Mrs. Sally OppenheimOn 3 October I issued for statutory consultations a draft order under sections 8 and 9 of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968, requiring goods sold by retail in five sectors to be marked with or accompanied by an indication of the country in which they were manufactured; and requiring information on origin to be included in certain advertisements for such goods. The consultations have confirmed that this extension of existing origin marking requirements will be widely welcomed. I propose however to modify the order to meet some practical poonts put to us by retailers and other interests, to ensure more effective and easier enforcement, and to keep burdens on traders to the minimum consistent with effective implementation of the new requirements. In particular I aim to ensure that retailers are provided with the origin information they will need when goods are supplied to them unmarked; and to meet the special problems of mail order and other catalogues.
I am accordingly issuing a revised draft of the order on which further consultations will be completed by 16 January 1981. I shall lay the order before the House as soon as possible thereafter; and intend, as previously announced, that it should enter into force on 1 January 1982.