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Written question asked by David Amess (Conservative) on Monday, 3 July 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 5 July 2006. It was answered by Ian McCartney (Labour) on Monday, 24 July 2006 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Trade Descriptions Act

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the operation of the Trade Descriptions (Place of Production) (Marking) Order 1988; how many (a) individuals and (b) companies have been prosecuted under this Order and the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 in each year since 1989; and what recent representations he has received on the operation of this Order.
Answer

According to information obtained from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the number of prosecutions notified to them by Trading Standards Services under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 in each year since 1989 are:

Individuals Companies Total
1989 974 448 1,422
1990 1,083 422 1,505
1991 1,111 381 1,492
1992 1,405 395 1,800
1993 1,527 387 1,914
1994 1,234 310 1,544
1995 1,204 318 1,522
1996 847 281 1,128
1997 871 345 1,216
1998 756 238 994
1999 599 162 761
2000 441 154 595
2001 563 168 731
2002 361 114 475
2003 426 151 577
2004 294 86 380
2005 285 76 361
2006 130 34 164
Total 14,111 4,470 18,581

OFT confirm that they received no details of any prosecutions made under the Trade Descriptions (Place of Production) (Marking) Order 1988, which was repealed in 1996 by the Trade Descriptions (Place of Production) (Marking) (Revocation) Order 1996.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
82891; 449 c1043W
Session
2005-06
Legislation
Trade Descriptions Act 1968
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk