UK product recall system ‘not fit for purpose’, says Which? consumer group

THE UK’s product recall system is not fit for purpose and is potentially putting people’s lives at risk, a consumer group has warned.

Which? has called for an urgent overhaul of the “fragmented” safety and recall system, which it claims is failing because of a lack of joined-up national oversight and action.

A report by the group concluded that the “overly localised and confusing” system had no single source of information on recalls for consumers. It used an “ineffective local solution to tackle what is a national problem”, the report said.

It is calling for the establishment of a national body to take control of dangerous situations as they arise and get products removed from homes quickly, as well as creating a single database of information on recalls for consumers “before there is further tragedy or loss of life”.

The report follows the watchdog threatening Peterborough Trading Standards with legal action for failing to force white goods manufacturer Whirlpool to change its advice to consumers, despite hundreds of its brands’ tumble dryers catching fire.

Which? also said the Government had been slow to respond to serious incidents and subsequent reviews following product-related fires, saying it was currently awaiting the outcome of the Working Group on Product Recall and Safety set up in October last year.

Problems had been made worse by local trading standards teams losing more than half (56%) of their full-time equivalent staff and expertise since 2009, combined with an over-reliance on manufacturers to self-check their products’ safety, the report found.

Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said: “The product safety system simply isn’t fit for purpose and its over reliance on a local approach to a national problem poses grave risks to consumers.

“The Government must now take urgent action and create a new national body that has all of the tools it needs to get unsafe products out of people’s homes.”