Press Release
Trading Standards & Young Scot - making it easier to identify a young customer’s age
In a recent tobacco test-purchasing exercise by Trading Standards in Shetland, three out of 10 shops sold cigarettes to a sixteen year old - without asking the young person for any proof of age. As these were first offences, the individuals and businesses were given formal warnings - but they could each have been issued with a £200 fixed penalty notice, or even faced a fine of up to £2500.
It is not always easy for anyone to tell a person’s age just by looking – and retailers who sell age-restricted products such as tobacco and alcohol are required by law not to sell them to under-age customers. So how can traders comply with the law, safeguard their livelihoods, and avoid turning away legitimate business?
The Council’s Trading Standards Service has new and improved resources to help with this challenging task, and a team from Young Scot are visiting Shetland in December to provide further support.
The Young Scot National Entitlement Card is one proof of age that retailers can accept with confidence, as it bears the PASS (Proof of Age Standards Scheme) hologram which assures that details on the card are correct. Almost 380,000 PASS-accredited Young Scot cards have been issued, and more and more young people are carrying them to gain access to age restricted goods and services. Around one-third of 18 and 19 year olds do not have a passport or drivers licence, and many more are reluctant to risk the consequences of losing these expensive documents on a night out, so a PASS card may be their only form of ID.
The aim of PASS is to drive out forgery, guarantee standards across proof of age cards, and provide a recognisable national symbol to help retailers. The PASS standards were established by the British Retail Consortium, in response to pressure from retailers, and are backed by the Government.
A recent survey by Trading Standards found that around three quarters of Shetland’s tobacco and alcohol retailers accept the Young Scot PASS card, but that 37% think it is easy for a young person to obtain a card with a fake date of birth. Some traders think that the cards are easy to buy online, that there’s no proper check on who cards are issued to, and that it’s better to ask for passports and driving licences.
In fact, the PASS standards demand a passport-like process for verifying each application, which are all done face-to-face. So, before a young person is issued with a card, a responsible adult in a professional job must approve the proofs of name, age, address and the photograph. In addition, Young Scot encourages people to apply for a new card and update their photo when they have left school. To do this, they need to re-apply and be verified through the same process.
There are no fake cards that bear the PASS hologram in circulation or available on the internet. The law is clear that a card bearing the PASS hologram is as credible as a passport or driving licence as a proof of age – and that a retailer who relies on Young Scot cards to decide whether customers are old enough to buy tobacco or alcohol is doing the right thing.
PASS Chairman Robert Humphreys supports retailers in being vigilant, but believes that turning away legitimate business is misguided. He said:
“If you reject a PASS card holder on the grounds that it may be forged, you’re making a big mistake. You’re upsetting a genuine customer who is not only law-abiding but has gone to the trouble of equipping him or herself with the card.”
Trading Standards and Young Scot also want to make sure that retailers do not miss out by turning away people who present them with genuine proof of age.
In 2010, Young Scot launched a brand new information pack designed for all staff involved in the sale of age restricted goods and services such as alcohol, tobacco, lottery tickets, games and DVDs.
The Council’s Trading Standards team have now further developed this to help retailers to easily identify a customer’s genuine proof of age.
To obtain the new PASS pack, for any further information about the sale of age restricted products, or to arrange a meeting with Young Scot on Tuesday 6th or Wednesday 7th December, please email Ross Smith at Trading Standards (ross.smith@shetland.gov.uk) or phone him on 01595 744895.
