SCOTTISH consumers and businesses will face challenges as a new EU rule comes into force this week.
On Friday, December 13, the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) will come in and impact Scottish businesses and consumers.
The GPSR aims to enhance consumer protection when shopping online and strengthen the rules surrounding product recalls.
Regulations state that firms must have an assigned responsible person, a traceable supply chain, and labels compliant with the GPSR requirements.
"Things don’t have to go on like this," said David Clarke, head of the Scottish pro-EU group, the European Movement in Scotland (EMiS).
“Consumers lose out. The economy loses out. Everyone loses out."
He went on: “When the UK left the EU, the exit deal between the UK and the EU saw Northern Ireland stay in the single European market. This means Northern Irish businesses enjoy full legal access to the world’s largest and richest market for goods and services.
“Scotland, which voted 62% Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, enjoys none of these benefits.”
EMiS also argued that complying with the GPSR will be costly for small businesses outside the EU.
“There are no identifiable benefits to Brexit and countless areas where Scottish and UK businesses lose out.”
Clarke called the GPSR “a new downside of the UK’s Brexit” and asked for the UK to rejoin the single market.
“Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves urges the UK and EU to get closer on trade. There is no better way than being in the single market,” Clarke said.
“Because Brexit sees the EU class the UK as a ‘third country,’ different GPSR rules apply to UK businesses that want to sell into the EU and Northern Ireland.
"If the UK were inside the EU or the single European market, complying with the GPSR would be much simpler, less bureaucratic and cheaper."
