Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to prevent the illegal (a) online sale and (b) importing of skin (i) whitening and (ii) lightening products which cause skin damage.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Cosmetics products must comply with some of the strongest safety standards in the world before they can be placed on the GB market. Government works with local enforcement authorities to take effective action when products are identified that do not meet these safety requirements, ensuring unsafe items are removed from sale.
Government has introduced the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill, which explicitly recognises the role of online marketplaces to ensure consumers are protected from unsafe products. We intend to use the powers in the Bill to introduce requirements on e-commerce models to help prevent the sale of unsafe products online.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will increase (a) criminal sanctions and (b) financial penalties for breaches of Trading Standards laws.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Local authority trading standards services oversee numerous pieces of legislation, including consumer protection, product safety, weights and measures, food standards, animal health and welfare, environmental protection, estates and lettings, and age-restricted products such as alcohol and tobacco, among other legislative responsibilities.
The Department of Business and Trade is responsible for the consumer protection function. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 updated and strengthened civil enforcement powers for public designated enforcers, including the ability for trading standards services to apply to the court for an enforcement order with a monetary penalty of up to 10% of turnover.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs lost in the car manufacturing sector between July and December 2024.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government produces estimates of the levels of employee and self-employed jobs by industry sector on a quarterly basis (Mar, Jun, September and Dec). Data on the number of jobs by industry sector in December 2024 will be published on 20th March 2025.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to prohibit the importing of (a) electric scooters and (b) electric bikes from countries that do not comply with UK safety standards.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK product safety legislation requires manufacturers or importers placing products on the UK market, including e-bikes and e-scooters, to ensure those products are safe. Regulators have powers to require that unsafe products are removed from sale.
We will introduce a new Bill to ensure the product safety framework keeps pace with modern technology, digital business models and international supply chains. This will better protect consumers and support business growth.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will introduce emergency tariffs against Chinese-manufactured electrical motorised vehicles.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt Hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to extend the eligibility of British cheese producers to export cheese to Canada under the reserve for the European Union within Canada's World Trade Organisation Tariff Rate Quota until 31 December 2025.
Answered by Greg Hands
Negotiations with Canada on this issue are ongoing. Our key aim is to ensure that we maintain current market access for the UK dairy sector. We have longstanding rights to this access at the World Trade Organisation, and a long-term solution is in the best interests of businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. We continue to make that clear to the Canadian government at Ministerial and official level.