Vapouround magazine ISSUE 11 | Page 87

F E AT U R E Closing his part of the segment, Liam said that the UK is the only state to have made and attempt to meet the fullest requirements of the TPD on time. The final segment of the IBVTA’s Regulations and Standards talk featured Kate Pike of Trading Standards North West, who gave an invaluable glimpse of the regulatory officer’s perspective, showing the IBVTA would not be a platform for partisan politics, but a forum for essential voices and views. “Our aim is to support, not stifle businesses, ensuring they compete on a level playing field,” she said. Trading Standards North West services over 23 million constituents in their region, with 1500 TS officers operating in nearly 200 local authorities in Great Britain and are responsible for enforcing over 100 separate pieces of legislation. Kate Pike described the TSA’s resources as being stretched thin and facing resource issues, as most of its work is now cross-border; businesses buy and sell beyond local borders and criminals operate the same way. Tension between local and national interests also remains. “The biggest problems come when national authority demands regulation and local politicians on councils are either disinterested or opposed to it, and ultimately these people are our paymasters,” Kate Pike Thick, stalling matters of bureaucracy can slow even the best of organisations, and the most well-intentioned of their staff. Kate soberly reminded the gathered attendees that “you can become a doctor quicker than you can become a TS officer.” Though thorough and educational, none of the IBVTA talks were framed as ends in themselves, and Kate acknowledged the extent of unfinished business in the world of regulation, chief among them the unsolved issue raised by international sellers unbound by UK rules (such as the USA and China) supplying products to UK consumers and businesses. But this was not a series of problems touted without solutions. “Our best means of intelligence gathering to better the situation comes through the cooperation of honest retailers. Trading Standards relies on the law-abiding assistance of everyone, be they multinational corporation or private citizen.” VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE ISSUE 11 87