Carmarthenshire trading standards success
Trading standards officers in Carmarthenshire have seized counterfeit goods worth more than £2m over the last three years.
The county council’s Trading Standards Service seized a total of £2,205,825 fake items including toys, memory cards, motorcycles, electrical goods, cigarettes, DVDs and CDs, clothing and football merchandise. The Service undertook 20 prosecutions.
Trading Standards has joined forces with the Government and industry to warn Christmas shoppers of the various dangers posed by fake products.
Millions of low-quality counterfeit products are flooding the UK in time for Christmas, particularly in markets, car boot sales and online. Criminals will deliberately copy well-known brands, sometimes even charging a similar price, but beware - these fakes can pose a serious risk to consumers’ safety.
The external appearance and packaging of electrical goods such as chargers and hair straighteners may be copied fairly well, but the internal composition and materials are likely to be botched and could make the item very dangerous.
Fakes which shoppers are particularly warned about this Christmas are: mobile phones, and their accessories; fake ghd hair straighteners, which can be electrically unsafe and potentially life-threatening; fake Nintendo DS Lite consoles – the charger could be dangerous; video games - often contain viruses; children’s clothing – may be flammable or have hazardous fastenings; children’s toys and action figures, which may have loose parts or contain toxic materials; perfumes, cosmetics and personal care items; alcoholic drinks – high levels of methanol can be lethal; cigarettes – added health risks from excessive levels of tar and contamination with other substances, and Christmas lights and batteries.
The following advice is being offered to Christmas shoppers: Always beware of offers that seem too good to be true - they probably are.
Shoppers should be extra vigilant at markets, discount stores and car boot sales. A new campaign - The Real Deal – which is supported by the Trading Standards Institute, has been developed to help consumers choose markets and stalls that have been vetted by trading standards. Markets covered by the Real Deal charter can be found at www.realdealmarkets.co.uk
If you are shopping online, watch out for unfamiliar sites. Main areas of risk are auction sites and entirely fake websites. It is always best to stick to familiar brand-name or retailer websites. You can also use search engines to research a website to see if people have had problems with them. Shoppers should be aware that a site ending .co.uk does not mean the trader is based in the UK. A seller based abroad can often be impossible to trace.
Poor quality packaging with mis-spelled words, or no origin or safety marks, is a tell-tale sign of a fake.
For further advice on your rights contact Consumer Direct, a government-backed telephone and online consumer advice service that works in partnership with the local authority trading standards services, on www.consumerdirect.gov.uk or 08454 04 05 06.
Carmarthenshire County Council executive board member for housing and public protection Cllr Hugh Evans said: “There could be a high price to pay for bargain presents that aren’t the real deal. The criminal trade in fakes has proven links with other organised crime and undermines legitimate businesses, especially when the fakers gear up for the festive season.
“The £2m of fake goods seized in Carmarthenshire shows the extent of the problem and how seriously we take tackling it.”
The county council’s Trading Standards Service seized a total of £2,205,825 fake items including toys, memory cards, motorcycles, electrical goods, cigarettes, DVDs and CDs, clothing and football merchandise. The Service undertook 20 prosecutions.
Trading Standards has joined forces with the Government and industry to warn Christmas shoppers of the various dangers posed by fake products.
Millions of low-quality counterfeit products are flooding the UK in time for Christmas, particularly in markets, car boot sales and online. Criminals will deliberately copy well-known brands, sometimes even charging a similar price, but beware - these fakes can pose a serious risk to consumers’ safety.
The external appearance and packaging of electrical goods such as chargers and hair straighteners may be copied fairly well, but the internal composition and materials are likely to be botched and could make the item very dangerous.
Fakes which shoppers are particularly warned about this Christmas are: mobile phones, and their accessories; fake ghd hair straighteners, which can be electrically unsafe and potentially life-threatening; fake Nintendo DS Lite consoles – the charger could be dangerous; video games - often contain viruses; children’s clothing – may be flammable or have hazardous fastenings; children’s toys and action figures, which may have loose parts or contain toxic materials; perfumes, cosmetics and personal care items; alcoholic drinks – high levels of methanol can be lethal; cigarettes – added health risks from excessive levels of tar and contamination with other substances, and Christmas lights and batteries.
The following advice is being offered to Christmas shoppers: Always beware of offers that seem too good to be true - they probably are.
Shoppers should be extra vigilant at markets, discount stores and car boot sales. A new campaign - The Real Deal – which is supported by the Trading Standards Institute, has been developed to help consumers choose markets and stalls that have been vetted by trading standards. Markets covered by the Real Deal charter can be found at www.realdealmarkets.co.uk
If you are shopping online, watch out for unfamiliar sites. Main areas of risk are auction sites and entirely fake websites. It is always best to stick to familiar brand-name or retailer websites. You can also use search engines to research a website to see if people have had problems with them. Shoppers should be aware that a site ending .co.uk does not mean the trader is based in the UK. A seller based abroad can often be impossible to trace.
Poor quality packaging with mis-spelled words, or no origin or safety marks, is a tell-tale sign of a fake.
For further advice on your rights contact Consumer Direct, a government-backed telephone and online consumer advice service that works in partnership with the local authority trading standards services, on www.consumerdirect.gov.uk or 08454 04 05 06.
Carmarthenshire County Council executive board member for housing and public protection Cllr Hugh Evans said: “There could be a high price to pay for bargain presents that aren’t the real deal. The criminal trade in fakes has proven links with other organised crime and undermines legitimate businesses, especially when the fakers gear up for the festive season.
“The £2m of fake goods seized in Carmarthenshire shows the extent of the problem and how seriously we take tackling it.”
Comments