Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to what steps his Department is taking to ensure that electrical goods offered for sale on online marketplaces by third party sellers are safe for use in the UK.

Existing product safety legislation places obligations on manufacturers, importers, and distributors to ensure that consumer products, including electrical goods, are safe before being placed on the UK market. This applies to products sold online and offline.

The Government recognises that the growth of e-commerce, and particularly the sale of products by third-party sellers on marketplaces, presents a significant challenge. This challenge is a key aspect of a review of the Product Safety framework being conducted by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). A call for evidence to inform the review was carried out last year: (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/uk-product-safety-review-call-for-evidence). Following on from this, a consultation, including proposals to further tackle the sale of unsafe goods online, will be published later this year.

Alongside the Product Safety Review, OPSS is leading a national programme of regulatory action to tackle the risks from unsafe and non-compliant goods sold on online marketplaces, including those sold by third party sellers. In 2021, 12,500 products were removed from supply due to OPSS interventions. OPSS has also expanded its test purchase programme, targeting, and assessing the compliance of products sold online by third parties, and continues to raise consumer awareness about the product safety risks when buying online.