§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his reply of 13 February, Official Report, c. 21, how many of the seven incidents involving scented erasers were made known to his Department by trading standards officers and the media, respectively; and if he will publish a table showing the dates of each incident.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe numbers are three and four. The three were all in July 1982, the four all in September 1982. In addition in November 1983, a trading standards department reported that a child had been prevented from swallowing a scented eraser.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department took to advise the suppliers of scented erasers of Her Majesty's Government's desire to ban the sale of scented erasers which are small enough to be swallowed by a young child.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherNone: when making a prohibition order under section 3(1)(a) and (2) of, and paragraph 5 of schedule 1 to, the Consumer Safety Act 1978, on goods considered not safe, it is not Government policy to alert suppliers in advance. Some might try to sell off their stocks quickly before the ban came into effect, putting people at risk.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has regarding the number of suppliers of scented erasers in the United Kingdom; and which particular trade associations his Department recognises as representing such suppliers.
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§ Mr. Alexander FletcherI am not aware of any official statistics regarding the numbers of suppliers of scented erasers in the United Kingdom.
As far as my Department is aware, all the scented erasers are imported. The Association of Toy and Fancy Goods Factors and Importers is the trade association most likely to represent first suppliers, but there are others representing wholesalers and retailers.