Cookstown District Council
Environmental Health
Consumer Protection
The Environmental Health Department delivers the Consumer Safety function on behalf of the Council. The aim of the service is to protect consumers against the supply of dangerous goods which are intended for private use.
The main piece of legislation which authorises Council Officers to deal with unsafe goods, is the Consumer Protection Act 1987. Regulations have been made under this Act which impose safety requirements for a wide range of consumer goods.
In addition, the General Product Safety Regulations 1994 impose a general duty on suppliers to ensure that all products, including second hand goods, supplied for private use are safe. Consumer Safety legislation is derived from European Directive Standards, which thus allows free movement of goods throughout Europe.
In the fulfilment of these functions, the Environmental Health Department undertakes the following consumer protection activities:-
• Responding to consumer complaints
• Carrying out programmed inspections of premises to ensure goods on sale are safe.
• Providing advice to suppliers about legislation.
• Sampling a wide range of consumer goods - either tested in-house or sent to approved test houses for examination to ensure they meet required standards of safety.