ACS has welcomed Business Secretary Vince Cable’s announcement today that a number of retail regulations will be cut.

The proposals are the first results from the Red Tape Challenge, a public consultation that asked businesses and individuals which regulations are unnecessary and should be removed.

The proposals include: simplifying the procedures for age verification or identification for the selling of age-restricted goods; replacing or simplifying more than 12 pieces of overlapping, costly and confusing consumer rights law, with a single new piece of legislation; simplifying the poisons licensing system for low risk products; removing the need to have a license to sell liqueur chocolates; and lowering the age for buying Christmas crackers.

Further public consultation on changes to legislation will be required before the Red Tape Challenge proposals can be implemented. More information on these consultations will be announced at a later date.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “This government has been persistent in its desire to find ways to reduce the burden of red tape on retailers. These recommendations are a step in the right direction.

“The commitment to simplify the rules on age restricted sales could make life easier for retailers. There are currently 18 different laws affecting different kinds of products, and this means confusion around training and compliance requirements. We look forward to working with government on ways to simplify this in a way that reduces costs and improves compliance.”