Product Regulation and Metrology (PR&M) Bill - Which? Second Reading Briefing

Which? welcomes the introduction of the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. This 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. 

Much of the detail of future regulation will be specified by secondary legislation. We look forward to seeing the detail of this as this will determine the Bill’s impact in “ensuring the responsibilities of those involved in the supply of products, such as online marketplaces, are clear, enabling Government to better protect consumers, so they can have confidence in the products they buy and whom they buy them from”, as set out in the King’s Speech background briefing. 

Working together as a coalition of product safety organisations, including the British Toy and Hobby Association, Chartered Trading Standards Institute, and Electrical Safety First, we are pleased to support this landmark Bill. We collectively agree 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.