Trading Standards Survey 2022

Published 31 July 2023

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This year 79% of authorities approached by the Intellectual Property Office participated in this survey, an increase of 4% when compared with last year. The deepening engagement of Trading Standards Authorities with the issue of IP crime is both encouraging and problematic. It is encouraging because it shows awareness that the threat IP crime represents to legitimate trade is widely understood and that Trading Standards Authorities are collaborating and data sharing within their community and wider enforcement networks to combat it.

Our problem is that IP crime, in the form of brand and identity theft, is now at the heart of organised crime. The need to guarantee the validity of products on and offline, to protect the public against commercial fraud and to prosecute counterfeiters, smugglers and fraudsters on the streets and online has never been greater. This year, for the first time, identity fraud is included in our statistics.

Other data shows how consistent some patterns of criminality are. 80% of responding authorities identified Cigarettes/Tobacco fraud as the most investigated illicit product within the sights of Trading Standards Authorities. Over 40% of authorities also identified Electronic Vaping products a goods category connected to criminality. Over 80% of authorities identified retail outlets as the most important locations for investigations into IP crime.

Key facts on the products investigated by UK Trading Standards Officers are that tobacco, alcohol, clothing perfume and fake packaging are consistently represented in our figures over long periods. Investigations into vaping products have increased by four-fold in the last five years. Investigations into cosmetics and makeup, on the other hand, have decreased significantly since 2018. Similarly, there have also been subtle shifts in the location of IP crime. Investigations via social media and websites have declined in volume since 2020. Investigations into shops, on the other hand are now at an all-time high.

Engagement with the IPOs intelligence hub by Trading Standards Authorities reached a five-year peak in the last reporting period with over 40% of authorities liaising with our office. Similarly, contact with medicines and healthcare products regulatory authorities also rose. Collaboration with Border Force remained at the same levels as last year, whereas liaisons with police, customs and other trading standards authorities dipped slightly. The Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) remained Trading Standards Authorities’ most important industry partner last year, with over 60% of authorities reporting links. Cooperation with REACT and FACT has also increased over the last three years and 30% of authorities reported engagement with the independent WRi group. In terms of the connectivity of Trading Standards work with IP crime, money laundering, drug dealing, and people trafficking have risen continuously over the last three years.

In the unlocked world, two trends are evident in this report. At the same time as IP criminals exploit developments in online technology through identity fraud and online fakery; traditional networks - through shops and markets, selling commonplace counterfeit items like cigarettes, clothing and jewellery - remain significant threats to honest traders and consumers. The war against IP crime has become a complex operation, combining insights into transformative online technology and age-old investigative techniques acquired through experience on the streets. This report characterises how Trading Standards Officers have been putting theory into practice over the last year.

The reports from Trading Standards Authorities highlighted here illustrate a wide range of investigations and prosecutions undertaken throughout the UK. A characteristic of this year’s case studies is that they emphasise the role of a carrot and stick approach in incentivising communities to commit to the prosecution of criminals. As the colossal estimated of the value of seizures through Operation Vulcan suggests, IP crime remains a threat to honest trade in the UK.

From Manchester we see how carefully planned operations, involving arrays of stakeholders in long-term, strategic actions can change patterns of criminality. Strangeways is reputed to be the UK’s counterfeit capital. Here, and at Cheetham Hill, through Operation Vulcan, long term direct action from Trading Standards Authorities, combined with community support initiatives. are changing entrenched attitudes to crime.

From Dorset, in an important test case, we see how the boom in vinyl sales that has been so beneficial to the UK music industry has created a vibrant market for illegal discs. In this instance, Dorset Trading Standards partnered with key industry players to bring a million-pound fraudster to justice.

Other cases from Manchester and Huddersfield, featuring unlicensed goods, exemplify the important and highly skilled role Trading Standards Officers play in protecting the public from unsafe products. Fake and unlicensed goods are not compliant with any safety regulations and the risks associated with illegal products may only be revealed after meticulous research and investigation.

In Rochdale, a major supplier of counterfeit goods was arrested and prosecuted, whilst in Salford and Rhondda Cynon Taf, the relentless search for counterfeit cigarettes and successful prosecutions underlines the long-term prevalence of tobacco fraud throughout the UK. The work highlights tobacco and e-cigarette fraud as a lasting, lucrative, commercial network for organised crime.

Counterfeit Wonka bars seized by Barnsley Trading Standards

Nathan Bennett, a business owner from Huddersfield, was sentenced to 16 weeks of imprisonment (suspended for 12 months), 10 days of rehabilitation activity, 100 hours of unpaid community work and costs of £3,723.01 and £128 of victim surcharge following a successful prosecution by Barnsley Trading Standards Authority. Bennett pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit products with incorrect labelling and allergy advice at a hearing in April 2022.

Trading as Kandy Fix, in the Alhambra Shopping Centre, Barnsley, Bennett’s premises were visited by trading standards officer after a complaint from a member of the public. A sample was retrieved of what appeared to be a counterfeit ‘Wonka Bar’.

The court heard that cheap chocolate had been rewrapped by Bennett at his home in Huddersfield, using labels that had been printed for him. The information on the ‘Wonka Bar’ labels related to a confectionery that has been out of production for at least five years and did not describe the ingredients in Bennett’s low cost, ‘replacement’ chocolate.

Analysis showed that one or two squares of the chocolate bar contained enough hazelnut to trigger a serious allergic reaction such as swelling of the airway although they were not listed as ingredients of the ‘Wonka Bar’.

Inaccurate food labelling is dangerous and poses a serious risk if a consumer has an allergy to one of the ingredients not listed on the label. Mr Bennett has been selling counterfeit products with incorrect labelling and allergy advice, and by doing so, putting his customers’ safety at risk.

This sentence sends a strong and clear message of the consequences for disregarding public safety.

Bennett’s offences could have had very serious consequences for anyone with a nut allergy, so we are grateful to Barnsley MBC for their work in securing this conviction.

We encourage the public to check our website for advice on how to spot a counterfeit Wonka Bar and to report any suspect products to their local authority for investigation.

Richard Hutter of St Leonards has been ordered to pay over £373,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act and given a suspended prison sentence following prosecution for the sale of illegal copies of vinyl records, in an operation which generated over £1.3 million in illegal profits. This case is significant because, notwithstanding the resurgence in the market for vinyl discs, there have been relatively few successful prosecutions against vinyl record counterfeiters.

Investigations began after a consumer bought an album online from Vinylgroove UK and complained to Dorset’s Trading Standards team, after realising the record had been counterfeited. Officers test purchased several more vinyl records and a representative of UK record labels association, the BPI (British Phonographic Industry), confirmed that these and the complainant’s album were counterfeit.

In in July 2018 Hutter’s home was searched and a number of counterfeit records, including Guns N’ Roses album Appetite for Destruction, were seized along with Hutter’s phone and laptop. When interviewed by Trading Standards, Hutter argued that he bought his records from record fairs across Europe and that he did not know that they were counterfeit. However, an examination of his data revealed that Hutter processed and fabricated the counterfeits himself. Images showing Hutter sitting in an office surrounded by vinyl, sealed the case.

While sentencing, Recorder, Richard Tutt, pointed out that the charges were aggravated because Hutter involving his family in the fraud, using both his son’s and wife’s accounts to take payments from the sale of the vinyl.

In April 2023 at Bournemouth Crown Court, Hutter was sentenced, having previously pleaded guilty to 13 offences under trade marks and copyright legislation and one offence of money laundering, contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The Recorder found that Hutter had profited from this fraud to the tune of £1.2 million. Hutter was sentenced to four months imprisonment, suspended for two years, 250 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months and an electronically monitored curfew between 8pm and 7am for three months. He was also ordered to pay £373,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The sale of counterfeit goods damages legitimate business, including local retailers selling genuine products and can confuse and mislead consumers. These items were being sold at usual prices for genuine vinyl records and consumers would have been misled by buying these. Our Trading Standards team will take action against sellers of counterfeit goods, including financial investigations to recover proceeds of their crime. The penalties can be substantial.

Vinyl has seen an incredible comeback in the past few years, with around 5.5 million LPs purchased in the UK alone in 2022. Sadly, this renaissance has been accompanied by a disturbing rise in bootlegging and sales of unauthorised recordings. This is a serious crime that denies artists the rewards for their creativity, exploits fans, and impacts legitimate retail and the record labels that invest in music – but worse, it can feed into other forms of criminality that can impact us all. Over the last three years the BPI has delisted over 100,000 fake items from marketplace platforms and seized over 3 million counterfeit units across the UK – which underlines the scale of the problem.

On behalf of the BPI and its members, I wish to thank Dorset Trading Standards and all the involved authorities for their valued efforts in closing down this criminal operation. We continue to work closely with online platforms and law enforcement agencies to uncover illicit operations and protect the interests of creators, consumers, and music outlets.

Manchester has been known for a long time as the ‘counterfeit capital’ of the UK, but that is changing. Operation Vulcan came into effect in October 2022. Along with partners, including Trading Standards Officers across the city, Manchester City Council was tasked with tackling the criminal networks that have blighted the Strangeways and Cheetham Hill areas of the city.

The operation is designed to bring partners together with a collegiate, problem-solving mindset, tackling the area’s criminality and working with the community to rebuild. Vulcan is a long-term commitment that brings enforcement partners together, coordinates their activity, ensuring that criminality at all levels is rooted out. It also facilitates a return to strong communities for the future.

At the start of the operation, analysis showed 206 ‘shops’ in Cheetham Hill sold counterfeit goods. This highly organised criminality brought with it other crime types, plunging the area into a downwards spiral as drug-dealing, anti-social behaviour and exploitation proliferated.

Through partnership working and relentless enforcement activity in the area, the ‘shops’, landlords, and wider organised criminal networks were targeted in new ways. Through Operation Vulcan, Trading Standards and partners have employed flexible staffing, updated enforcement methods and innovated new powers in the relentless pursued of the criminals in the area.

In just eight months, the impact has been significant. Partner and community feedback suggests just one or two counterfeit outlets remain. Over 110 ‘shops’ have been shut down, recovered, and repurposed an estimated £1.34 billion of counterfeit goods have been taken off the market, equivalent to over 914 tonnes which is a loss to the criminals of £134 million pounds. There have also been 162 arrests, including many for trade mark offences.

Feedback from the community and partners is overwhelmingly positive. All attribute the significant improvements in the area directly to the work of Operation Vulcan and its partnerships.

In this case, we illustrate how relatively commonplace goods can be a threat to public safety by exploring an investigation undertaken because of a complaint concerning a consignment of toys which did not comply with UK safety standards.

On 25 May 2021, in conjunction with Greater Manchester Police, a safety inspection was carried out at Just Traders Limited in Manchester’s Derby Street. At the inspection, 280 items suspected as being unsafe along with items suspected as being counterfeit were seized. All were toys.

Samples were taken of a shark doll, a pink bauble wand, a pair of bunny ears and a baby doll. Two additional samples of toys, a batman fidget spinner and a Captain America sword, were sent to the trade mark representatives and were confirmed as being counterfeit.

Dangerous toys seized by Manchester Trading Standards

Of the goods taken from the Derby Street premises, the shark doll failed its tension test, the zip became detached at a force off 44 Newtons, less than the specified limit of 90 Newtons. The seam on the dolls body broke at a force of 67 Newtons, allowing access to the internal filling material. It was also possible to access the inner voice box which, with minimum effort, could be pulled apart giving access to electrical components inside. When tested the speaker detached from the wires at a force of 6 Newtons. All of the detached components pose a potential choking hazard to a child under 36 months. The labelling was also non-compliant.

The bunny ears proved dangerous because the thickness of the plastic flexible bag used for packaging was measured at 0.002mm, less than the specified 0.038mm. The packaging poses a potential asphyxiation hazard. Button cell batteries could be accessed without the use of a tool, this poses a threat of electrochemical burn to the consumer. Button cell batteries react with saliva to create caustic soda. If a child swallows a button cell battery and it gets stuck in their oesophagus it can burn a hole and cause internal bleeding, or even death. If the button battery gets in the stomach, it can cause significant tissue damage. In addition, the bunny ears also failed on labelling.

Dangerous toys seized by Manchester Trading Standards

The pink bauble wand failed our tests for similar reasons. Its button cell batteries could be accessed without the use of a tool and the plastic handle was not secured to the head and could be easily removed, exposing electric wires and LEDs. The product posed a potential electrochemical burn hazard to the intended consumer.

The length of the electrical wire from the end of the battery compartment was recorded as 500mm, far greater than the 300mm in our requirements and it failed to separate into parts when the 25 Newtons was applied. It therefore poses a potential strangulation hazard to a child under 18 months. The labelling of the toy was also non-compliant. Furthermore, the toy did not carry the appropriate warnings as to the strangulation hazard.

Dangerous toys seized by Manchester Trading Standards

The clever bay doll wasn’t so smart either. The doll was found to contain 21.47% in excess of the maximum concentration of phthalates (DEHP). This is a plasticise which is harmful if ingested over a period. Phthalates can be ingested by a child from being sucked or chewed from a toy, then it enters the digestive system. The phthalates then cause disruption which effects the balance of hormones in the body.

There are other harmful effects on adults such ad adverse effects on the reproductive system etc. It is also linked to child asthma.

Just Traders Limited and the director Abdul Saeed Khan were invited to attend an interview on two occasions, they declined. On 26 January 2023 the matter was heard at Manchester Magistrates Court. A sentence of £16,000 was imposed with credit given for guilty pleas. The perpetrator was ordered to pay fines totalling £10,667.00 and costs of £3,354.41 plus a £180.00 victim surcharge.

The case shows how easily available products that don’t comply to safety regulations present a serious threat to the people they are supposedly made to entertain – children.

Approximately 60,000 counterfeit goods seized by Rochdale Trading Standards in a single operation

Rochdale Borough Council’s Trading Standards team has disrupted two counterfeiting operations trading in goods with a total street value of £24 million. The case first case shows how intelligent observation and swift action pay dividends.

In January inspections across the borough were made and several seizures of illegal tobacco, cigarettes and vapes were carried out. While the team were in Heywood, they noticed two men acting suspiciously as they loaded items into a storage container. After questioning the men, a further ten containers, stored at sites rented across the borough were discover. During searches, all of the containers seized were found to contain high-value counterfeit items, including, shoes, handbags, jewellery, perfumes, watches and cosmetic fillers. Over two days, approximately 60,000 items were seized, with a retail value estimated at £9 million.

The following month, Rochdale’s Trading Standards team led an investigation into a local trader. The team discovered that the trader had been sending 300 to 500 parcels per day through a courier network from premises in the Manchester area and was part of a UK-wide distribution network of counterfeit goods. Working with the courier, the team intercepted some of the parcels and all items found inside them were confirmed to be counterfeit by trade mark representatives of the brand owners.

The scale of the counterfeit operation became apparent when a further 11 pallets were intercepted in just one evening. It was later discovered that shipments of 11 containers had been distributed from this location for six days a week for a significant period. The street value of these counterfeit items was calculated to be over £1million per week, or more than £65million per year.

Rochdale Council’s Trading Standards team and the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) discovered the parcels were being shipped to eight industrial units containing more counterfeit items; with some operating as a badging factory and distribution hubs. All the items were seized at these sites with assistance from the police, PIPCU, Lighthouse Security and Manchester City Council Trading Standards team. The seized items filled three 40ft containers, with an estimated retail value of £15million.

Our Trading Standards team need to be highly commended for their tremendous efforts. They have worked above and beyond their normal daily duties to physically seize counterfeit items worth millions of pounds and disrupted a counterfeit network worth over £65million per year.

What people may not realise is that apart from often being dangerous and always inferior, these goods are funding organised crime. These traders do not pay taxes, maybe illegally claiming benefits and put genuine local traders who abide by the rules, out of business.

You may think you have bagged a bargain, but by funding organised crime you have assisted crime gangs who are responsible for forced labour, drugs, human trafficking, prostitution and child labour.

A Rhondda Cynon Taf shop director was successfully prosecuted by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Trading Standards Authority for the sale of illegal tobacco products. Appearing at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court, both director Peter Pliscak and employee Magdalena Racova, of Cardiff, pleaded guilty to the charges following an investigation by Trading Standards Officers.

Pliscak, the director of Pontypridd Anna Shop Ltd, pleaded guilty to 13 charges relating to the sale of illegal tobacco products and was fined £4,550 plus costs. Racova pleaded guilty to two charges relating to the sale of illegal tobacco and was fined £370 plus costs.

The successful case was based on evidence acquired through text purchases in August and September 2021. A concealment of illegal tobacco was found in Pliscak and Racova’s stock room in September 2021. The counterfeit goods had been hidden with a void behind the back panel of a shelving unit. A total of 4,100 cigarettes and 250g of hand rolling tobacco were seized.

At the court sentencing, magistrates said that the defendants had ‘acted deviously’ in building a concealment.

Our Trading Standards officers, working on information received, carried out a thorough investigation, which has resulted in this successful prosecution. The sale of these illegal tobacco products was not only detrimental to consumers, but also to honest traders.

Consumers also have the right to know that items they are purchasing fit the description being offered.

An Aberdare store has been issued with a three-month closure order following a hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court. Zany Shop, located on Commercial Street, Aberdare, was issued with a closure order on 2 November 2022, under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. The order follows a successful investigation by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Trading Standards for the sale of counterfeit tobacco products and disposable vapes to children.

Illegal tobacco products were seized from the town centre premise on three separate occasions and more than 500 disposable vapes that were not compliant with the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 were removed. These regulations ensure standards for the safety and quality of all e-cigarettes and refill containers and protect children from using these products.

The business had been provided with advice by the Council’s Trading Standards Officers but continued to trade illegally. Magistrates heard that large groups of children had been visiting the area to purchase vapes and tobacco products, resulting in an increase in nuisance and anti-social behaviour in the locality.

The premise was having a detrimental effect on the local community and a disproportionate number of resources was spent on this premise because of the continued illegal activity and nuisance.

We will look to take similar action against any other premises within our County Borough that trades in illegal goods and sells age-restricted products to children.

Two Rhondda Cynon Taf residents, an employee and a shop owner in Mountain Ash, have both been successfully prosecuted by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Trading Standards for operating a fraudulent business and having counterfeit goods in their possession.

The 23-year-old and 43-year-old husband and wife, appeared at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court where they pleaded guilty to 24 offences relating to the sale and possession for supply of counterfeit tobacco products, dangerous goods and running a fraudulent business.

The case was opened when complaints were received from the public alleging illegal tobacco on sale at the premises. Test purchases at the town centre store were made and counterfeit tobacco products were seized from the premises in December 2021. After a successful prosecution, the female defendant was sentenced to a 12-month Community Order consisting of 100 hours unpaid work, was also ordered to pay £800 court costs and an additional £95 Victim Surcharge. The male defendant was fined £600, ordered to pay £800 court costs and an additional £60 Victim Surcharge.

Once again, the Council has concluded yet another successful prosecution against a Rhondda Cynon Taf business owner and employee in relation to the sale of counterfeit goods. The law is there to protect both the public and those bona-fide international companies who have a global reputation for selling quality goods at reputable outlets.

Salford Trading Standards and Licensing has a significant regulatory remit and is a relatively small team with 15 multi-skilled officers and 2 apprentices learning the profession. Our operational capacity equates to 10 operational officers. The team continue to prioritise the protection of consumers and provides support to businesses by tackling counterfeit and unsafe products in our area. This year concerns are growing over vaping products.

Between April 2022 and March 2023, officers visited 13 premises where counterfeit vaping products were discovered. One operation resulted in over 25,000 counterfeit items being seized as well as £25,100 being seized under Proceeds of Crime.

Cash seized by Salford Trading Standards under Proceeds of Crime

In September 2022 one raid discovered over 77,000 illegal e-cigarettes, one of the biggest hauls ever made in the UK. The vapes were taken from a business in Broughton in a raid by Salford City Council’s Trading Standards Team and criminal investigations are now underway.

This year we have conducted 12 similar interventions and seized more than 120,000 non-compliant e-cigarettes with a street value of £1.2 million.

Fake goods, unsafe premises, unlicensed workers – Operation Vulcan in Salford

In a raid conducted as part of Operation Vulcan, immigration enforcement officers served an immigration warrant and arrested five people suspected of working illegally at the premises, more than £4,000 of cash for use in from illegal employment was also seized. Enterprises proven to be facilitating illegal working can be fined up to £20,000 per worker.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police, the North West Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service also took part in the enforcement visit and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has now condemned the warehouse as unsafe. The owners have been served safety improvement notices.