About Trading Standards

Trading Standards departments are found within local councils and are responsible for ensuring a fair and safe trading environment and protecting consumers within their council area.

They enforce laws passed by Parliament about things like consumer credit, product safety, false descriptions, and weights and measures.

Trading Standards support legitimate businesses by working to remove counterfeit clothing, cigarettes, DVDs from the market. By acting against bogus traders cold-calling on elderly home owners, Trading Standards contribute to making it safe for vulnerable older adults to continue living independently in their own homes. By preventing and prosecuting underage sales of alcohol, tobacco, knives, glue and other items, they contribute to better public health and safer communities.

Increasingly, Trading Standards work involves internet investigations as more items are bought and sold in this way.