I have served as a county councillor for almost 12 years, enabling me to learn more about the tireless work of Suffolk County Council officers, including those in Trading Standards.
Despite being one of the smaller teams within the Council, Trading Standards continues to make a huge impact in supporting the health and wellbeing of Suffolk’s residents by protecting them from dangerous goods and scams. They play a large part in strengthening our local economy by ensuring a level playing field for legitimate traders.
It is surprising just how varied the work of Trading Standards is, as the High Sheriff for Suffolk, Major Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, learned when he recently visited the team.
He began his visit with a trip to the Port of Felixstowe, Britain’s busiest container port, where he met with the Imports team tasked with intercepting potentially dangerous goods before these can enter the UK’s marketplace.
The team had a busy morning inspecting tricycles, highchairs, playpens, and baby walkers and testing items for potential choking hazards and strangulation risks with the help of the High Sheriff.
Having visited the Imports team myself, I know how successful they are at seizing unsafe items before they can cause injury, fires or even death. They have their work cut out, with an increasing number of unscrupulous online marketplaces selling dodgy products.
Of course, you can also protect yourself by only making purchases from a reputable retailer to ensure that what you're buying meets the necessary safety checks.
If you are a new trader, it may be confusing to know what you need to do to comply with legislation, but Suffolk Trading Standards is here to help and provides advice to start-up and established businesses alike.
Major Lowther-Pinkerton met the team committed to engaging with local businesses who are experts in their field and can give guidance on anything from becoming a wax melts retailer to selling dog treats and food labelling rules. Anyone who needs their help can find out more by visiting suffolk.gov.uk/tradingstandards.
Although Trading Standards will usually support businesses in the first instance, there are occasions where enforcement action will need to be taken, as was the case for a shop in Lowestoft recently. Officers worked with colleagues from the police and HMRC to seize illicit tobacco on sale at Bargain Point in the town, resulting in the issue of a closure notice.
Many people may see illicit tobacco as a victimless crime. But it can contain harmful substances, posing serious health risks, and is often a gateway to organised crime, including county lines. So please consider this if ever tempted to buy cheap tobacco or cigarettes, as there’s probably a reason why it's such a bargain.
Illegal meat was also seized in Lowestoft by East Suffolk Council, supported by Suffolk Trading Standards, earlier this month to help stop swine fever. The pork had travelled more than 1,500 miles from Romania, and it is suspected that it would have gone on sale had it not been intercepted.
Stopping consumers from purchasing dangerous foods remains a priority for Suffolk Trading Standards, who explained to the High Sheriff how they undertake regular testing to ensure that food on sale in the county is properly labelled and doesn’t contain anything that it shouldn’t. This is vital to protect people with allergens, who could die if they eat something they are allergic to.
You may be most familiar with the ongoing work of Trading Standards to Suffolk of rogue traders, including one of the most prolific fraudsters seen by the team, David Waters, sole director of Felixstowe-based business Anchor Mobility, who promised life-changing products to consumers but failed to deliver on these.
Thanks to the intervention of Trading Standards, Waters was sentenced to 32 months in prison and fined £15,000. Officers also pursued a claim of £50,000 from the proceeds of his crimes, which will serve as compensation for 25 of his victims, who will receive between £600 to £5,000 over the coming weeks.
The above is a small snapshot of the recent activity from Trading Standards, as I think I could fill an entire newspaper with the work from the team over the past few weeks alone!
Major Lowther-Pinkerton shares my sentiments and finished his visit by presenting the team with a High Sheriff’s Award for keeping the county secure from crime and failed standards, commenting that Suffolk is extremely lucky to have such a professional and dedicated Trading Standards department.
Please do all you can to support their fantastic work by signing up to become a consumer champion at www.suffolk.gov.uk/jointhefight or reporting scams and dangerous items to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.
