Share
This article was co-authored by Miran Bahra, Trainee Solicitor, London.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) was formed in January 2018 following the Grenfell Tower incident. It was tasked with delivering consumer protection and supporting business confidence, productivity and growth following the government’s working group recommendations on product recalls and safety.
The creation of the OPSS was a high-water mark for product safety in the UK – the existence of an overseeing general consumer regulator was the first of its kind in Europe, and more akin to the United States’ Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Against this backdrop, the regulator’s performance and utility has been closely watched by all since its inception. Now, more than ever, the OPSS is under scrutiny due to a series of recent developments in the UK product safety regulatory regime which have brought its functions into even more focus.
The policy that has been developed by the OPSS and those around it throughout its lifetime to date clearly shows the future intentions of the regulator and associated responsible government department, and implicitly the future direction of product safety laws and enforcement in a post-Brexit UK, which can be summarised broadly as follows:
- Cement and strengthen the OPSS’s role as the UK’s national product safety regulator and ensure a smooth transition period post-Brexit, including increased emphasis on enforcement activities.
- Modernise the UK’s product safety regime to ensure that it is equipped to deal with emerging risks and opportunities, such as artificial intelligence advancements and modern manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing.
- Focus on particular areas, such as customs/border checks and online platforms.
Some examples of significant developments in respect of the OPSS, and its strategic goals, are as follows:
Area of development
- Cement and strengthen the OPSS’s role as the UK’s national product safety regulator and ensure a smooth transition period post-Brexit, including increased emphasis on enforcement activities.
Examples
- Post-Brexit, all product safety regulatory functions previously carried out at EU level were transferred to the OPSS. The OPSS is now the UK’s established national overarching regulator for all consumer products (except for vehicles, medicines and food) and legal metrology.
- On 23 April 2021, the OPSS re-published its product certification guidance for manufacturers to provide clarity on the conversion of certificates issued by EU Notified Bodies. Since then, from 1 January 2023, certificates issued by EU Notified Bodies will no longer be accepted to place regulated weighing and measuring instruments on the Great Britain (except Northern Ireland) market.
- In August 2021, the OPSS published the fourth version of its product safety and non-compliance notification guidance which was first issued on 1 January 2021. This guidance details how local authorities should use the Product Safety Database to report products that pose a risk to the health and safety of consumers and/or products that are non-compliant with the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and the Regulation on Accreditation and Market Surveillance.
- On 7 September 2021, the OPSS announced that it will be phasing out its commercial provision of Conformity Assessment Body Services under the National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMO). The NMO currently offer two main types of conformity assessment:
- Product certification: assessment of instruments at the design stage to ensure compliance with regulations.
- Quality management system certification: approval of a manufacturer’s processes for producing an instrument or verification following modification or repair of the same.
- The OPSS has confirmed that alternative provisions will be implemented for businesses before stepping back from the market. However, they are yet to confirm what these will be.
Area of development
- Modernise the UK’s product safety regime to ensure that it is equipped to deal with emerging risks and opportunities, such as artificial intelligence advancements and modern manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing.
Examples
- On 16 June 2021, the National Audit Office (the NAO), an independent body which scrutinises public spending for parliament, published their report on ‘Protecting Consumers from Unsafe Products’. As part of this report, the NAO published a number of recommendations for the OPSS to adopt to strengthen its regulatory function, including:
- Setting out its vision of what product safety regulation should look like more clearly, and
- Working with local Trading Standards services to improve coordination between local and national level.
- In March 2021, the Business Minister, Paul Scully, issued a call for evidence and announced that the government planned to review and strengthen the UK’s product safety laws to ensure that they were “fit for the 21st century”. As part of this review, the OPSS sought views on whether the UK’s product safety framework:
- Took into account new risks and opportunities.
- Responded quickly to new emerging threats and opportunities for product safety, and/or
- Supported regulators and businesses to be transparent about product safety to ensure that consumers could make informed decisions.
- The response to this call for evidence was published on 11 November 2021. This concluded that the current UK product safety framework requires radical reform to enable it to adapt to accelerating change. The response also identified a number of key areas for immediate action including, online markets, driving long term change and achieving greater simplicity and consistency in regulation.
Area of development
- Focus on particular areas, such as customs/border checks and online platforms.
Examples
- In September 2021, the OPSS also announced that it will be updating its service standards. The new service standards, which were due to be published in October 2021, will clarify the enforcement role of the OPSS and how they regulate businesses producing and selling products in the UK. It is clear from the draft service standards that the OPSS is focusing on new areas, including:
- The use of online platforms and how the OPSS monitors products made available for sale online.
- Customs/border checks post-Brexit and how the OPSS will work with authorities to check goods at the border.
- Interested stakeholders were invited to comment on the draft service standards by 1 October 2021. The imminent publication of the new service standards is awaited.
Next steps and practical suggestions for relevant entities (businesses, manufacturers and their insurers)
Relevant entities should be aware of the above policy and enforcement strategy developments that are taking place within the OPSS and in respect of the UK’s product safety regulations. In particular, companies should be aware of recent and upcoming announcements: the response to the call for evidence which was published last week and the OPSS’s finalised service standards which were scheduled to be published in October 2021.
Relevant entities should otherwise study and be familiar with the OPSS’s scope of enforcement and implement internal policies to reflect the increased emphasis on UK-based enforcement policies generally, as well as in respect of focus areas such as online platforms and border/customs processes.
Related items:
Insurance and reinsurance
United Kingdom