Consumer Information Pack

Know The Law - Common Criminal Offences

This section outlines briefly some of the most common criminal offences which can affect consumer shopping on the high street.

If you have a complaint regarding any of the legislation in this section please notify Trading Standards:

0161 342 8355 0161 342 2288 Send us a Message

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

These Regulations prohibit unfair business to consumer commercial practices, including lack of professional diligence, misleading actions, misleading omissions, aggressive practices and specific banned practices. Examples of banned practices are falsely claiming to be approved by a public or private body, advertising goods that are not available, operating pyramid schemes, creating the false impression that a prize has been won, not leaving a consumer’s home when asked to do so and making persistent and unwanted telephone calls.

The Price Marking Order 2004

• When a retailer offers goods for sale there must be a written indication of the selling price.
• Every price indication must be unambiguous, easily identifiable as applying to the goods and clearly legible.
• Any price given must not be misleading
• All prices displayed on goods offered for sale to consumers must be inclusive of VAT.

Food Safety Act 1990

This Act covers a very wide area regulating the safety of food. Some points that are covered are:

• It is a criminal offence to sell food after its Use By date
• It is not an offence for food to be sold after its Best Before date unless it is unfit for human consumption. There is no legal requirement to inform consumers that goods have passed this date although many retailers do.

Terms such as Display Until and the use of production dates have no legal meaning in food law and are for information only. The use of the term Sell By is no longer a legal term as it was replaced by Use By dates in the 1980s.

Trading Standards Officers enforce food labelling requirements and can prosecute manufacturers for incorrectly labelled food.

Complaints about foreign materials in food e.g. glass, metal, hair and foods that are not fit for human consumption, are dealt with by Environmental Health Officers.

Consumer Protection Act 1987 Part II:

All goods sold in the UK must be safe and this is the main piece of legislation that covers the safety of all goods.

As well as this there are many Regulations and British Standards that goods such as toys, prams, tyres, furniture etc are required to meet before being placed on the market. Failure to meet such requirements is a potential criminal offence.

Consumer Credit Act 1974:

As well as there being many civil remedies available under this legislation, there are also criminal offences that can be investigated by Trading Standards under this Act. Traders' offering credit facilities to consumers must be licensed by the Office of Fair Trading.

Trading in credit without such a licence is a potential criminal offence.

Adverts that offer credit facilities must comply with Regulations made under this legislation. These Regulations require certain information to be contained within such adverts and failure to indicate such information is an offence. It is also an offence to advertise credit information that may be misleading to the public. Children, under 18's, shouldn't be sent credit cards or offers to obtain credit

Business Names Act 1985:

This legislation makes it a requirement that all traders using a business name that is different from their own, must display their name and an address on business premises and on any company literature where legal documents can be sent.

Weights and Measures Act 1985:

This legislation makes it a criminal offence to sell or supply products in the course of a business or trade if their weight or measurement is inaccurate ie. short weight or measure. Equipment should be accurate.

Counterfeit Goods:

It is a criminal offence for a trader to sell counterfeit goods. These are goods which have been copied to imitate brand named products. Some common examples are sportswear and sports footwear, computer software, music, jewellery and perfumes.

Unsolicited Goods:

It is an offence for a business to pursue payment for unsolicited goods sent to consumers. Any incidents of this should be reported to Trading Standards.

Under Age Sales:

It is an offence for traders to sell age restricted goods to young people. If you know of a business that is selling any of the following goods to persons under the age indicated, this should be reported to Trading Standards:

• Tobacco - aged 18 years
• Alcohol - aged 18
• Fireworks - aged 18
• Solvents - aged 18
• Lottery tickets - aged 16
• Aerosol sprays - aged 18