Slough's Trading Standards team concerned over 'no-deal Brexit'

A no-deal Brexit could heap pressure on Slough’s Trading Standards team to stop the movement of unchecked goods into the town, it has been warned.

Trading Standards officers carry out checks at inland border points in Slough to try and stop counterfeit and illegal goods entering the market place.

In 2018/19, these checks resulted in 124 consignments of goods worth more than £1million from coming to Slough.

Andrew Clooney, group manager for consumer protection at the council, told a cabinet meeting at St Martin’s Place that if the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement, their job will become harder.

He said: “In the event of a no-deal, we do work at the borders to ensure that unsafe products don’t come into the country.

“A no-deal Brexit means we’d be out of Europe and we’d be recognised as a third country.

“The potential for the movement of goods through Europe into the UK because they’re not being checked at a European border anymore may increase the onus on Trading Standards.”

Mr Clooney added that the trading standards team is also concerned with the use of illegal skin lightening creams in Slough, a product it has been trying to stamp out.

He said: “An emerging issue is skin lightening cream that we’ve seized recently which contain hydroquinone which is a cancerous ingredient that is totally banned in the UK.

“Unfortunately there seems to be a wealth of this in Slough currently.”

A council spokeswoman said: “We are part of the Local Government Border Delivery Steering Group, a group set up by Her Majesty’s Government, to prepare for all eventualities of no-deal.”