Are you a COVID-19 duck?

There is a test for Covid-19 according to the BBC Radio 4 programme More or Less and it is based on the old saying … If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck and looks like a duck … it’s probably a duck. What the radio programme delved into was the accuracy of the tests …

Meeting consumer needs when developing service standards – an ISO/IEC guide

Out on a Highnote Arnold Pindar NCF Chairman writes: I take great satisfaction from seeing the revision of ISO/IEC[1] GUIDE 76:2020 through to publication. It is a good note on which to end more than 20 years work with ISO/COPOLCO. I joined in 1997 and chaired their Priorities Committee for five years. The revised Guide provides guidance …

Zero Carbon for 2050

Monica Shelley asks if anyone’s putting it into practice I attended the Zero Carbon by 2050 congress (see full report) and it set me thinking about the practical implications of what all the experts who spoke defined as the actions necessary to achieve the aims they spelt out. I wondered, in particular, what might happen in the …

Don’t blow up your buggy – new labelling for power supplies to electric cars

Europe has adopted a European Standard* that will ensure that in future the labelling of electric vehicle power supply is compatible right across Europe. The deployment of the new labels on electrical vehicles and power supply stations for electrical vehicles should be complete by February 2021. NCF says “Cross border compatibility of labelling is …

Being Heard Post-Brexit – Keeping our Seat at ANEC

In my last blog writes Arnold Pindar I talked about the need for the major decisions on Brexit to be taken before our negotiators can finalise the myriad of details that remain to be addressed and how we needed to maintain our strong connections with the institutions that do this work. Example At a broad level, the UK …

‘Cutting EU Ties’ – NCF shares concerns spelt out by Trading Standards

A new report from the guys at the sharp end looks at how cutting ties with the EU affects all of us and in particular the work of Local Trading Standards Officers who are in day to day contact with consumers and businesses. The CTSI (Chartered Trading Standards Institute) points out that transposing EU law into …

Brexit : Transposition of laws – What’s the point if enforcement is weak?

The 5 December 2017 Consumer Congress focused on issues relating to market surveillance and enforcement, one of the principal messages from the April Consumer Congress and an often-overlooked element in the market place that is vital to the success of the market and to consumer trust. More specifically, as Baroness Judith Wilcox, President of …