The Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS), is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SC047951). Our members are professional trading standards managers representing every Scottish local authority trading standards service.
The Society liaises with local council colleagues across the UK, and engages with government and others around the operation of the consumer protection landscape, providing leadership and consistency to Scotland's 31 trading standards teams. We aim to educate, coordinate, and support.
SCOTSS also maintains the Approved Trader database which is an online portal to all of Scotland's trading standards run assured trader schemes, try it...it's free!
SCOTSS works with a wide range of government, regulatory, consumer, business, and third sector organisations, mixing operational and technical expertise with policy work, in order to ensure the effectiveness of consumer protection services in Scotland.
Advice Direct Scotland is a Scottish Government funded service that offers free and impartial advice on all consumer issues and aims to help consumers understand their rights and how to exercise them. Consumers are referred by the service to local authority trading standards services where appropriate for further action. SCOTSS also works with Citizens Advice in England and Wales, so that consumers right across the UK have good access to information, advice and advocacy.
CTSI, The Chartered Trading Standards Institute is a professional membership association formed in 1881. It represents trading standards professionals working in the UK and overseas - in local authorities, the business and consumer sectors and in central government.
It exists to promote and protect the success of a modern vibrant economy, and to safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of citizens by enhancing the professionalism of its members.
Trading Standards Scotland is a national team managed by COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities). They are funded directly by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and HM Treasury, to provide a cross border service to combat scams, national consumer issues, and illegal moneylending, across Scotland.
CMA, The Competiton and Markets Authority is a non-ministerial government department, that works to promote competition for the benefit of consumers, both within and outside the UK. CMA was created out of the Office of Fair Trading and the Competiton Commission in 2013, and its aim is to make markets work well for consumers, businesses and the economy.
The CMA has a strong focus on competition and market issues, but also enforces consumer protection legislation to tackle practices and market conditions that make it difficult for consumers to exercise choice.
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"The Trading Standards heads of service group, the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) today released results of a comprehensive examination of the market in Scotland for single use, or disposable, vaping products, carried out during October to December 2021, that found a wide range of non-compliant devices, with both safety and health risks.
Trading Standards teams visited 721 premises during the project, mostly retailers but also some wholesalers. In total, 88,839 disposable vaping devices were removed from sale as they were either not labelled correctly in accordance with the TARP Regulations, did not contain sufficient CLP regulation information or had not been published by the MHRA. In addition, 3683 disposable vaping devices were seized as they had a capacity of over the legal limit of 2ml.
Environmental concerns were also highlighted around the waste battery aspect of the devices, millions of which are imported every year, mostly from China. And health concerns about the attractive nature of these devices, which are often brightly coloured and made to be appealing to children.
SCOTSS Chair, Graeme Paton said:
SCOTSS works very closely with Scottish Government colleagues around the regulation of nicotine vaping devices in Scotland and we will be highlighting these risks so that appropriate action can be taken."
Sheila Duffy, CEO of ASH (Scotland) added:
"Trading Standards teams across Scotland treat the sale of nicotine vaping products as a high priority, especially where children are concerned, and the rapid expansion of this market for disposable nicotine devices is worrying and presents real risks to the environment and health, especially the health of young people.
"Trading Standards Officers in Scotland have done an excellent piece of work here in highlighting these issues. While some people use vaping to quit smoking, there is a real risk that these products can attract young people into experimentation and addiction. The current craze with disposable, brightly coloured and flavoured e-cigarettes can be child appealing and that is unacceptable"