Electronic Commerce: Safety

(asked on 19th February 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timescale is for publication of the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) new voluntary commitment for online marketplaces; and what plans the OPSS has for protection of consumers using online marketplaces not signing up to the voluntary commitment.


Answered by
Paul Scully Portrait
Paul Scully
This question was answered on 24th February 2021

The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe products can be sold in the UK and the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is working to ensure that major online marketplaces play their part in protecting UK consumers from unsafe goods.

As part of this work, the OPSS is developing a new voluntary commitment for online marketplaces to agree actions they will take to reduce the risks from unsafe products being sold online. This will enable online marketplaces to demonstrate their commitment to the safety of their consumers in the UK by publicly promising to work with UK regulators and details will be published in due course.

The OPSS is also conducting a review of the Product Safety framework to ensure it is fit for purpose, protects consumers, and enables businesses to innovate and grow. The review will consider the impact on product safety of new technologies and new business models, including e-commerce.

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