Government announces new office for product safety and standards

On 21 January 2018, the Government announced the creation of the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), a new national oversight body tasked with “identifying consumer risks and managing responses to large-scale product recalls and repairs”.

The announcement formed part of the Government’s response to the Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety. The Report published by the Working Group in July 2017 had recommended the creation of a “centralised technical and scientific resource capability” to re-connect central Government with the front-line services dealing with product safety and recalls. This working party itself was a response to the independent review, by Lynne Faulds Wood which reported in February 2016.