Prize Draws (Hansard, 26 June 2002)

§ Ms Atherton
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information her Department has collated regarding unsolicited prize draws sent from foreign addresses. [63492]
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§ Miss Melanie Johnson
The Department have received a large amount of correspondence from the public about unsolicited prize draws, many of which originate from overseas, making it difficult for consumers to identify the source of mailings.
The Office of Fair Trading currently have over thirty cases of mailings from overseas under investigation. In response, the OFT is gathering intelligence on each deceptive mailing in order to trace the originators and to actively pursue those responsible.

§ Ms Atherton
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions her Department has had with relevant authorities in other countries regarding unsolicited prize draws sent by mail to addresses in this country. [63493]

§ Miss Melanie Johnson
The Department works closely with enforcement bodies, such as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), who work with their European and other international counterparts on unsolicited mailings.
The OFT has the status of a "Community qualified entity", which enables it to bring proceedings under the Injunctions directive (98/27/EC), in other European Community member states in order to protect UK consumer interests.
The OFT raised the issue of misleading mailings at the most recent European meeting of the International Marketing Supervision Network (IMSN), with a view to co-ordinating Europe-wide action against such mailings. The OFT has also held discussions on misleading mailings with north American law enforcement agencies, including Industry Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Affairs, the Ontario provincial police and the US federal trade commission.
The ASA supervises the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion and works with national and international regulators. Where misleading mailings may have originated outside of the UK, the ASA liaises with regulatory bodies in the EU via the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA).