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Government promises post-Brexit bonfire of EU red tape
Shops could soon be allowed to sell fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces as part of a Government plan to hold a bonfire of EU red tape.
- The Government has announced a major review of EU law on the UK statute book
- EU laws will be 'improved or repealed' if they do not benefit the British public
- Overhaul will include looking at EU restrictions on selling in pounds and ounces
PUBLISHED: 16:17, 16 September 2021 | UPDATED: 20:03, 16 September 2021
Shops could soon be allowed to sell fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces as part of a Government plan to hold a bonfire of EU red tape.
Ministers have announced a major review of all the EU laws which were kept on the UK statute book after Brexit.
The legislation made in Brussels will be 'improved or repealed' if it is judged not to benefit the British people.
The shake-up will include a review of EU restrictions on selling goods in pounds and ounces in what could pave the way for a return to using more imperial units.
The Government's Brexit chief, Lord Frost, said 'overbearing regulations were often conceived and agreed in Brussels with little consideration of the UK national interest' and 'we now have the opportunity to do things differently'.
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Boris Johnson asked former Cabinet minister Sir Iain Duncan Smith in February to convene a new Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform to look at existing EU laws and to identify areas where improvements could be made.
The Government's response to the taskforce's report includes a 'package of proposed individual regulatory reforms to laws inherited while a member of the EU'.
The proposed changes include looking at whether to change the rules on people being allowed to sell goods using imperial units of measurement.
The Government said in its 'Brexit opportunities' document: 'We will review the EU ban on markings and sales in imperial units and legislate in due course.'
The current law states that traders must use metric measurements like grams, kilograms, mililitres and litres when selling packaged or loose goods in England, Scotland or Wales.
The only products which can be sold in imperial units are beer or cider by the pint, milk in a returnable container by the pint, and precious metals by the troy ounce.
The existing rules state that traders 'can display an imperial measurement alongside the metric measurement but it cannot stand out more than the metric measurement'.
The shift from imperial to metric measurements began before the UK joined the EU in 1973.
But the gradual metrication became a rallying point for many anti-EU campaigners.
Regulations were introduced in 1994 requiring goods to be weighed in metric but they were fiercely opposed by some traders, with the Metric Martyrs group campaigning for the right to choose which unit of measurement to use.
Efforts to make the UK fully metric were ultimately abandoned, as units like pints and miles remained in place.
The 'Brexit opportunities' document also includes a pledge to reintroduce the 'Crown Stamp' on pint glasses in pubs.
The Government said: 'We will remove the EU-derived prohibition on printing the Crown Stamp on pint glasses and allowing publicans and restaurants to voluntarily embrace this important symbol on their glassware, should they choose to do so.'
The Crown Stamp, which dates back hundreds of years, was used to show drinkers that a pint or half-pint glass was an accurate unit of the measurement.
It was replaced in 2007 by the EU's 'CE' mark which is used in countries throughout the bloc to prove products comply to Brussels' standards.
The plan to tear up EU laws includes a proposal to set up a new commission through which the public will be able to submit suggestions for cutting or reforming red tape.
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Submissions will then be considered by officials who will make recommendations for change to the Government.
Lord Frost, the Cabinet Office Minister, said: 'From rules on data storage to the ability of businesses to develop new green technologies, overbearing regulations were often conceived and agreed in Brussels with little consideration of the UK national interest.
'We now have the opportunity to do things differently and ensure that Brexit freedoms are used to help businesses and citizens get on and succeed.
'Today's announcement is just the beginning. The Government will go further and faster to create a competitive, high-standards regulatory environment which supports innovation and growth across the UK as we build back better from the pandemic.'
Another of the reforms being pushed forward by ministers is to modernise the UK's driving licence system by rolling out digital documentation.
The 'Brexit opportunities' document said: 'The Government will deliver a more convenient, modernised system for British motorists through digital versions of driving licences, driving test certificates, and MOT testing processes.'
The Government will also 'reconsider' regulations on using drones to spray plant protection chemicals on crops.
This is already allowed but only if it can be proved that it can be 'done in a way that does not harm human health or have unacceptable effects on the environment'.
