Product Regulation and Metrology (PR&M) Bill - Which? Committee Stage Briefing

Which? welcomes the introduction of the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. This Bill has the potential to update the UK’s product safety regime for the digital age. The growth of online marketplaces has delivered choice and convenience to consumers but has also exposed a gap in regulation leaving consumers increasingly susceptible to unsafe products that do not meet UK standards. 

We are pleased to support this landmark Bill, however, we believe it is crucial that the Bill is strengthened to properly safeguard consumer safety in the following ways: 

1. A clear and enforceable duty on online marketplaces to provide confidence for consumers, businesses, and the online marketplaces themselves, together with the extension of liability for defective products to online marketplaces, particularly those sold by third party sellers. 
2. Clearer definitions of key terms to ensure all existing and future online marketplaces and products cannot take advantage of gaps to avoid responsibility. 
3. Consumer safety built onto the face of the Bill to ensure that all future secondary legislation must be designed to maintain a high level of consumer protection and to require that products must be safe. 
4. More effective scrutiny processes to ensure that the policy decisions made with the powers set out in this Bill can be effectively scrutinised as products and marketplaces evolve. 

Please see the appendix below for our suggested amendments to the Bill which have been tabled by Baroness Crawley. 

In addition, Which? has long called for the establishment of an independent product safety and standards authority, building on the work that has been done by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). We would ask the government to carefully consider this further in due course.