Unfair Commercial Practices: Regulation at Risk

In the UK the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations came into force on 26 May 2008. They implemented the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, introducing a general duty on traders not to trade unfairly with their consumers. This article will seek to show that they have been working well, but that their continued effectiveness has been put at risk, initially by the Government's massive cutbacks on expenditure, and currently by the nonsense of their assurances that consumer protection will be maintained.