Increased consumer protection means a new era of uncertainty for traders, says James Ross
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (the Regulations) come into force slightly later than planned on 26May 2008 and represent the most significant development in consumer protection law for decades. The Regulations amount to a sweeping consolidating reform of the existing piecemeal legislation and implement the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005, which is intended to harmonise legislation across the European Community preventing business practices that are unfair to consumers, so as to support growth of the internal market.
The Regulations contain general prohibitions on unfair commercial practices together with a “blacklist” of specific unfair practices. The OFT has issued limited interim guidance on the interpretation of various novel concepts introduced by the Regulations (such as “invitation to purchase”, “transactional decision” and the requirement of “professional diligence”) but it will be some time before any degree of certainty is reached in relation to the scope of this important new legislation.
A number of familiar pieces of legislation, such as parts of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 (false
