ABSTRACT
Consumer safety should be the first objective of any consumer protection policy. There is a wealth of economics and psychological literature which seeks to find the best ways of regulating for product safety and critiquing the actions taken by the regulators of consumer products. The new approach embraces a hands off theory of enforcement, which involves a preference for reacting to reported dangers rather than closely monitoring the market to detect dangerous products. This new approach to product safety offers consumers the hope of greater choice by encouraging innovation and reducing costs. A distinction in the literature on product safety regulation is drawn between pre– and post–market controls. Pre–market controls certainly include licensing requirements and rules which determine standards, whether in statutory regulations or voluntary standards. There should be a strong presence at the local level so that enforcement officers can detect dangerous goods in circulation and develop working relations with traders.
