
The proposals are the first results from the government’s Red Tape Challenge.
- Replace or simplify more than 12 pieces of overlapping, costly and confusing consumer rights law, with a single new piece of legislation.
- Remove a number of burdens specifically identified by retailers, including: consolidating and simplifying the procedures for age verification or identification for the selling of age-restricted goods; simplifying the ineffective and burdensome poisons licensing system for low-risk products such as fly spray and toilet cleaner; removing the requirement on retailers to notify TV Licensing about TV sales; and removing and simplifying a range of rules on transport products such as tyres and catalytic converters.
- Promote greater personal freedom and responsibility by getting rid of symbolic cases of heavy handed intervention, such as requiring a shop selling liqueur chocolates to have an alcohol licence, and by lowering the age for buying harmless Christmas crackers.
- Prevent business confusion, and cutting down the dead weight of the statute book, by removing redundant legislation, such as the antiquated Trading with the Enemy Act and its 98 linked regulations and rules around the safety of pencils, prams and hood cords where consumers are already protected by other legislation.
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