The launch of the Real Deal in St Helens with (left to right) Kevin Gavin, Markets Manager; Darrell Wilson, Chief Trading Standards Officer; Steve Littler, Estates Manager; Councillor Alison Bacon, Cabinet Member for Environmental Protection; Stephen Anders, Senior Trading Standards Officer and David McFarlane, Markets Assistant.

St Helens Council has signed up to the Real Deal charter, confirming its commitment to safe and fair market trading.

Although the main aim of the Real Deal campaign is to reduce the sale of counterfeit goods, the initiative will also tackle other problems including:

> Consumers being ripped off and sold potentially dangerous goods.
> Legitimate traders losing sales and going out of business – damaging the
> local economy.
> The atmosphere of criminality and intimidation that can become
> prevalent.
> A knock-on effect in terms of increased crime in the surrounding area.

Councillor Alison Bacon, Cabinet Member for Environmental Protection, said:
“Markets – including occasional sales and car boot sales – are not uniformly regulated and can therefore offer easy opportunities for those who wish to trade illegally, particularly in counterfeit and pirated goods.

“A market’s reputation as a safe shopping environment can very quickly be undermined if it is infiltrated by unscrupulous individuals selling counterfeits and other illegal products. Sadly this is a problem for many markets across the country.
“Local authority trading standards services and many market operators are working hard to maintain local markets and car boot sales as safe and fair environments in which to trade and to shop. But the nature of the counterfeit business means that traders in illicit goods will often move from one market to another to avoid detection.”

The new, standardised National Charter is, however, a formal declaration that authorities are now working together to combat the problem.

Liz Bales, Director General of the Industry Trust for IP Awareness, one of the founding organisations of the Real Deal, said: “It’s fantastic that St Helens Council has signed the Real Deal charter to keep dodgy dealers out of its local markets.

“By embracing the Real Deal principles, St Helens Council is sending a strong ‘keep-out’ warning to the counterfeit con-men and also a positive message to consumers that its markets are safe, fair shopping environments. We applaud the hard work of the trading standards officers and the markets team in implementing these robust procedures.”
Scheduled inspections underpin the new agreement and will take place across all council-operated markets in the borough.