DRAFT PRODUCT SAFETY AND METROLOGY ETC. (AMENDMENT ETC.) (UK (NI) INDICATION) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2020

Sam Tarry Excerpts

Monday 16th November 2020 General Committees

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey, in place of my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Central.

Colleagues who were here in 2019 will know that the House has debated a previous incarnation of the SI. For those who were not here, that probably seems quite a long time ago. A lot has changed since then, including the context in which businesses find themselves and the unknowns of what is happening in Government negotiations on a deal with the EU. It does not look as though the ingredients of that deal are out of the cupboard, let alone mixed and ready to go in the oven, as the Prime Minister so famously promised.

We are also in the midst of a global pandemic, which has hit businesses, our economy and local authorities hard. That makes them less able to deal with the end of the transition period. British businesses of course do the best they can—they are among the very best on the planet—but many have told us that they do not have the bandwidth for the end of transition and the likely changes it will mean, alongside trying to stay afloat as the coronavirus crisis continues to rage.

The 2019 SI was described at the time as a “beast of an SI” in The Times on 12 February. It was 636 pages long, weighed 2.5 kg and put together 11 issues that would usually be in separate documents to be sifted through. The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee was damning about the length and scope of the SI and the Government’s approach to bringing it to Parliament. For that reason, we voted against it then. Today, we will not vote against the changes because they are necessary to update the situation as we come to the end of the transition period.

The legislation will ensure that the UK has a meaningful regulatory framework for product safety and legal metrology, including the ability to amend its own regulations in future in the interests of UK businesses and consumers and to provide adequate protection for UK consumers. It will also ensure that unsafe and non-compliant products can continue to be removed from the market. That will provide businesses and consumers with reassurance about the safety and accuracy of products.

The instrument makes amendments to regulations relating to a diverse range of subjects, including container bottles, toys, lifts, gas appliances and personal protective equipment enforcement. It is perhaps a mini-beast compared with its predecessor.

It is likely that there will be a lot of work for companies to understand and act on the changes in this SI. The Government’s impact assessment estimates that between 10,000 and 17,000 UK manufacturers and up to 135,000 UK wholesalers and retailers will be impacted by its implementation. With a total cost of over £35 million—£25.7 million for conformity marking, £3.7 million for conformity assessment and £6.6 million for familiarisation for businesses—the assessment warns that those costs could be passed on to UK consumers and businesses through increased prices or reduced product availability. Will the Minister confirm what support the Department is offering businesses, which are already struggling through the pandemic, to limit these costs as far as possible?

If we are to ensure that there is consumer confidence about product safety, it is important too that the organisations that engender that confidence are properly supported. As we have pointed out before, trading standards teams have seen huge cuts of 40% since 2010. Clearly, we want good product safety and consumer confidence, but we will get them only if those services are properly resourced. Given the pressures local authorities are under through the coronavirus crisis, what assessment has the Minister made of the impact of ongoing changes on trading standards teams?

Following our departure from the EU, the UK will no longer be able to use the CE mark to identify safe products. That will be replaced in the UK with a new UK conformity-assessed marking—the UK CA. What work have the Government undertaken to ensure that people are aware of the new UK CA marking?

We must not forget that the SI also relates to Northern Ireland. As we have recently warned, it is questionable whether GB-NI trade systems will be ready, following repeated warnings. What contingency plans do the Government have to ensure there is not widespread disruption on 1 January? Businesses in Northern Ireland could be very hard hit by all these changes. What extra support are they receiving from the Government?

The costs that businesses will incur as a result of these changes are not insignificant, and a large number of businesses will be affected. I hope that the Minister and his team will do all they can to mitigate the impact on businesses as far as possible, given the huge pressures they face.