| Date -03 Mar 2005 | Return to previous page |
Moray Council has welcomed the recent announcement by the Lord Advocate to permit the use of children for test purchasing of age restricted goods.
The change will allow local authorities to use test purchasing to monitor the sales of age restricted products such as tobacco, fireworks, DVD’s and butane gas. Until now any test purchasing could only be used for survey purposes. The Lord Advocate’s ruling allows young volunteers to take part in controlled exercises to provide evidence that will lead to sellers facing prosecution.
The Lord Advocate reached his decision after wide consultation and a pilot study conducted by Trading Standards Services in Moray, Stirling, South Ayrshire and Edinburgh. Independently assessment of the pilot found that test purchasing was an effective method of cutting down on sales to children and that the welfare of young volunteers was protected. 115 test purchases were completed in Moray, with 13 sales made (11%). The retailers who made sales were re-visited, resulting in one further sale. This seller was subsequently reported to the Procurator Fiscal and convicted for making the illegal sale.
Peter Adamson, Moray Council’s Trading Standards Manager welcomed the move, “This is great news for all concerned about the sale of potentially dangerous products to children. It will allow Trading Standards and other agencies to take effective action against the minority of retailers who refuse to take their legal responsibilities seriously. The Access Moray card is being introduced in Moray and provides a reliable proof of age card to assist retailers. We urge traders to operate a no proof, no sale policy”.
Trading Standards are holding seminars and have prepared a resource pack for retailers to help them comply with the law and have been encouraged by the positive response from businesses. Further test purchase exercises are planned to cover the full range of age restricted products.
Businesses can get advice and assistance on age restricted sales by contacting Trading Standards on 01343 554617.
Contact: Joyce Pirie, Public Relations Co-ordinator on 01343 563046