Product Safety in the UK

The government’s consultation “Smarter Regulation: UK Product Safety Review” closed at 23:59 on 24th October 2023. The Department for Business and Trade will now consider all responses to the consultation before publishing the Government Response.

It is clear from the Ministerial Foreword to the consultation that the UK’s current system of product safety regulation is facing a range of challenges and opportunities, from new technologies and rapidly changing business models, to how consumer products are made, supplied and used. As such, the government’s position for the consultation was “Fundamental reform is necessary, but we want to ensure that UK businesses can adapt smoothly to change and avoid any risk of stifling growth as businesses recover from the pandemic. This is not a quick fix, and we want to work collaboratively to build our new framework on a set of core principles, implementing reform progressively over time, tackling the most urgent challenges first and bringing businesses and consumers with us. The new framework will be clearer, smarter, more proportionate and responsive to consumer needs”.

The response by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) to the consultation can be located here.

We will provide an update on the Government’s Response to the consultation and responses, once published. In the meantime, A synopsis of the key changes and a more detailed overview of the GPSR and the changes which are also underway can be seen in our detailed articles below.