Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps have been taken since the Westminster Hall debate on faulty electrical imports in March 2016 to review consumer protection against internet sales of faulty or counterfeit mobile telephone chargers, tablets and similar goods.

Protecting consumers from unsafe, faulty and counterfeit goods is a priority. I set up the Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety in October 2016 to bring together product safety experts, the fire service and trading standards professionals to identify necessary improvements to the system of product recalls and safety. The Group published its report in July setting out recommendations and outlining the actions the Working Group has been taking. This includes working with the British Standards Institution (BSI) to develop a code of practice on corrective action and recalls. The Government will respond in the autumn.

The Department funds National Trading Standards (NTS) who prioritise national and cross-local authority boundary consumer enforcement in England and Wales. A successful programme of operations to tackle the sale of counterfeit and unsafe goods being made available on social media is ongoing. Similarly Trading Standards Scotland coordinates and enforces cross boundary and national casework also undertaking specialist functions which includes tackling e-crime.