|
|
|
| home | your council |
business | community | education | environment & waste |
leisure & tourism |
roads & transport |
social care |
|
 Underage Sales
Certain products present genuine risks to the health and welfare of children and teenagers. Legislation has been put in place to restrict the sale of these products because of the growing concern about them.
Traders must comply with the law. Failure to do so can result in prosecution and substantial fines. In most cases the maximum fine for making an illegal sale of an age-restricted product is £5,000.
To view the list of products that are age restricted and the different categories that the fall in, please view the Age Restricted Products page.
If an age-restricted product is sold to an underage person, even if they claim they are for an adult, the retailer and the salesperson can be guilty of a criminal offence. Anyone who sells age-restricted products should be fully aware of the age limits, adequately trained and aware of company procedures and policies to ensure that no sale ever takes place to an underage person.
If you are in doubt, and the person cannot provide legitimate proof of their age, our advice is to refuse to sell the goods to them.
Acceptable types of proof of age must contain a photograph of the holder and their date of birth e.g. a Connexions card or Driving Licence.
Other than in the case of alcohol, the buyer does not commit an offence in purchasing the age restricted product.
Where cigarettes are sold retailers must clearly display a notice stating:
(Measuring not less than 30x42cm)
REMEMBER - IF IN DOUBT DON’T SELL
POTENTIAL COST OF A CRIMINAL CONVICTION AND FINE IS FAR GREATER THAN THE PROFITS FROM ILLEGAL SALES Ensure that you carry out training to all members of staff and that it is all documented on a Training Log. Also remember to document all age restricted product refusals. If ever questioned, this will show enforcement officers that as a business you are doing your bit to help stop age restricted products falling in to the wrong hands.
 Challenge 21 is a scheme that has been developed and is currently being adopted as best practice.
Put simply: If a customer appears to be under 21 they must prove they are over the legal age for that product, for example 18 for alcohol.
There is further information on this scheme on the Challenge 21 page.
 Enforcement agencies e.g. Trading Standards Officers and Police Officers need to know which shops are making, or are suspected of making, illegal sales so that steps can be taken through advice, warnings or prosecution to prevent such sales.It is vital that such knowledge or suspicions are reported to the relevant enforcement agency even if this is done anonymously.
Parents, teachers and adults in general can all play a crucial role in this respect.
The health and future success of your child is paramount. Parents, teachers and adults in general can all play a crucial role:
This leaflet is designed to provide initial guidance on specific areas and is not intended as an authoritative document on the law.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
e-mail page to a friend