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British Brands Group up in arms over copycat pack enforcement
The British Brands Group has blasted the government for not allowing companies to take out private prosecutions against cases of copycat packaging.
The organisation said the government had missed the "best opportunity in 10 years" to prevent copycat packaging by not including a provision for private prosecutions in a consultation on the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, which closes today (21 August).
The directive is due to come into force in April 2008 and enforcement against copycat packaging will be left to Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading.
But British Brands Group director John Noble said these bodies would not be able to properly enforce the laws because they had "wide responsibilities, limited resources and a strict need to prioritise cases according to the public interest".
To emphasise the impact of copycat packaging on shoppers, Noble yesterday delivered a hamper of current UK copycat packaging to David Saunders, director of consumer and competition policy at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Noble's comments came a month after the British Brands Group held a Parliamentary round-table event, where participants called for the establishment of a Packaging Standards Authority and more funding for Trading Standards to tackle copycat packaging.
Click here for more on the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
Noble (r): copycat packs delivered to government
