ACS is promoting the Home Office’s announcement of voluntary commitments to restrict the sale of products that contain harmful levels of acid or corrosive substances to under-18s.
The commitments for retailers announced by the Home Office include:
- Agreeing to comply with the Poisons Act 1972 and promoting awareness to staff of what this means for the sale of products which contain levels of acid and other corrosive substances that mean they are either regulated or reportable under the Poisons Act 1972.
- Agreeing not to sell products to under 18s that contain potentially harmful levels of acid or corrosive substances. Where appropriate, this will include applying challenge 21/25 policies when asking for age identification, and staff supported by till alerts, supervision and the inclusion of the products in age restricted sales training.
- Agreeing equivalent age restriction measures are applied to products sold online.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We welcome the Government’s action on reducing the availability of corrosive substances to under-18s and support a future regulatory age restriction on these products. Convenience stores do not typically sell products that contain harmful levels of acid or corrosive substances, but we will be updating our guidance to retailers to make them of existing regulatory requirements and the Home Office’s suggested voluntary commitments.”
In its submission to the Home Office’s consultation on corrosive substances in 2017, ACS outlined its support for a regulatory age restriction on harmful products, noting the convenience sector’s familiarity with age restricted sales of other products like tobacco, fireworks and alcohol.
The Poisons Act 1972 and the Control of Poisons and Explosive Precursors Regulations 2015 detail the thresholds for regulated and reportable substance, requirements for members of public to purchase these substances and reporting requirements on retailers. Products exceeding the thresholds are not generally sold in convenience stores, but for those looking for more information, the full list and guidance is available here.
The full submission is available here: https://cdn.acs.org.uk/public/lobbying/acs_submission_-_age_of_sale_acid.pdf
