Trading standards

Toys 

Labubu

You may be aware that a certain brand of collectable toy, namely ‘Labubu’, has become particularly popular in the last few months. Unfortunately, this has resulted in an increase in counterfeit or copycat items appearing on the market. This Service has now received multiple complaints regarding these toys, and we have particular concerns with regard to the safety of these items.  

Toys are products designed or intended (whether or not exclusively) for use in play by children under 14 years old. Be aware that even if a product does not immediately appear to be a toy, if it has any play value, it may still be considered to be a toy and be subject to the Toy Safety Regulations, e.g. a keyring with fluffy character attached, etc. 

If you are considering selling such items, you need to make sure that not only do you not fall foul of trademark rules, but more importantly, the goods you sell are safe products.  We have seen examples of non-genuine Labubu items where components have become easily detached which then become a potential choking hazard.

As such, you need to take reasonable precautions to ensure that you only sell safe products. The minimum steps a distributor should take would be:

• Ensuring goods supplied are not in breach of trademarks. Ask questions of your supplier to confirm that they are genuine. (Remember that genuine Labubu are expensive. Items purchased for a few pounds are likely to be fake)
• Checking the markings on labels/packaging. Are they ‘CE’ and/or ‘UKCA’ marked - all toys should carry this marking. Is the manufacturers name and address on the label? Are there any safety warnings or instructions? Genuine items will have these markings.

In addition to the above, you may also be classed as an ‘importer’ of any such product, should you, or your business, be involved in the products’ direct importation into the UK. Importers have extra duties to ensure goods are safe.

You should immediately remove any suspected counterfeit/fake Labubu collectable toys/key rings etc from sale.

Any products that are found to be non-compliant with the above legislation are likely to be seized, and full criminal prosecution proceedings may be considered against you and your business.  

Air Fragrance Products 

We have begun to see an increase in the number of air fragrance products that are not compliant with UK labelling rules. It would appear that many of these products originate in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). Many of these products lack a full UK business name and address of the importer and therefore fail traceability requirements. 

Again, if you are purchasing such products for retail sale it is your responsibility as a distributor to take steps to ensure that they are safe products and are compliant with all relevant safety standards. As such you should:

• Always buy from a reputable supplier and always obtain an invoice
• make sure the product / packaging is marked with the name and address of the manufacturer or importer – this must be a UK based business and UK based address.
• keep all invoices
• If you are in any doubt, ask to see proof that the product is safe (a test certificate or declaration of conformity)
• inform your supplier about any safety complaints you receive about the product.

You should immediately remove any incorrectly labelled air fragrance cans/ items from sale. If you are able to get the details of the UK business name and UK address of the importer from your supplier, you may be able to over sticker the items, to include the missing details. The items must not be placed on sale until appropriate corrective actions have been taken.  

Any products that are found to be non-compliant with the above legislation are likely to be seized, and full criminal prosecution proceedings may be considered against you and your business.  

Nicotine-inhaling Devices and Peripheries 

This Service has observed issues during inspections regarding oversized capacities of disposable pods/cartridges. Non-compliant items have been found up to 5ml. You should be aware that such pods/cartridges are legally allowed to be a maximum of only 2ml in capacity. This is irrespective of whether the products are sold containing any liquids or not.  If a pod/cartridge contains the coil, or directly feeds the coil, it can be up to a maximum of 2ml. 

You should check all your stock immediately to ensure you do not have any pods/cartridges over 2ml and immediately remove any oversize capacity of disposable pods/cartridges from sale and dispose of them appropriately.

Any products that are found to be non-compliant with the above legislation are likely to be seized, and full criminal prosecution proceedings may be considered against you and your business.  

From 1 June 2025, it is now illegal to sell, supply or possess for sale or supply any single-use (disposable) vapes. The ban included all single-use vapes, whether or not they contain nicotine. The ban defines a single-use vape as a product that’s neither designed nor intended to be re-used.  For a product to be considered to be reusable, it must be both rechargeable and refillable.   If the product contains a battery that cannot be recharged, and/or a coil that cannot be bought separately and easily replaced, then it will not be considered as being rechargeable.   The product will not be considered as being refillable if it has a single-use container that cannot be bought separately and replaced. Such a container may be in the form of anything designed to hold vaping liquid and be used within the vape itself.  Refills, that are designed to refill the main 2ml tank, can be up to a maximum of 10ml, presuming that they do not contain a coil or feed directly into the coil/wadding of the reusable device.