Caithness crafters ‘devastated’ by ‘irresponsible’ Facebook post
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The Caithness crafting community was said to be in uproar after a social media post suggested Trading Standards would be doing heavy-handed spot checks at public fairs.
The message, since removed, appeared in a Facebook post for a local crafting community page and warned creatives that “Trading Standards are doing checks at fairs”.
The post continued: “They bring scales and measuring equipment to check all weights and measures, anything you say is handmade is literally taken apart and scrutinised.
“The confectioners beside me had some of their sweets removed for being wrongly labelled, and more removed for not being the right weight.
“The sellers on the other side had jewellery binned as it came from China! If you’re buying stuff in from anywhere outside the UK including Amazon and eBay you need an import licence. They check your import invoices if you cannot supply these items will be binned!
“Another stall had all their knitted things removed for lack of labelling and they literally had nothing to sell. After paying to trade you can imagine they were gutted!
“I’m proud to say we passed with flying colours.
“Please be careful these issues could have had the whole fair closed down and the organisers could have been fined thousands!”
The post ends on an ominous note: “The confectionery seller is possibly being prosecuted.”
According to Glyn Salisbury, who runs ‘Watten Hall Craft Fair +’, a lot of people have been very upset by the “blatant scaremongering” of the post.
“This has been posted to put fear into smaller crafters and is wrong. The import license is ridiculous,” he said.
Mr Salisbury forwarded a message that another crafter had received from Muriel Allan, principal trading standards officer with Moray Council, in which she refutes the information shared in the online post.
“These allegations are certainly not true,” she wrote.
“Yes, we have been visiting craft fairs and checking goods on stalls. We generally don’t take scales with us to weigh sweets and we would give advice rather than remove products.
“We certainly aren’t prosecuting any confectionery sellers. We also did not remove any jewellery or knitted goods and we have never asked to see import licences.
“Our aim is to work with local crafters and provide advice rather than remove goods and close down stalls. We would be happy to provide advice to any local crafters or small businesses.
“I hope this puts your minds at rest.”
Hoping he could reassure people by relaying some of this information, Mr Salisbury, unfortunately, found himself blocked on a Facebook page for Caithness creatives.
“I was astounded that somebody could so easily post such a report. One particular aspect claimed certain crafters would need an Import Licence to purchase from Amazon and eBay.
“This was completely false and Trading Standards have checked this and refuted claims. The trouble is, this post should not have been put out in the first place.
“The person, or persons, responsible should apologise publicly. They should apologise for all the stress and fear caused to crafters who believed it.”
He thinks the post was done to deliberately “cause a panic” and a lot of crafters are “now worried sick” about taking part in shows. “Was this the intent? I don’t know, but the effect it has had on the crafting community has been devastating.”
He says that those responsible “should be ashamed of their behaviour and issue an immediate apology”.
He added: “I know the post has been taken down now, but by who? However, the damage has been done and needs to be undone. Apologise to the crafters you upset as soon as possible. Own up to it.”
Another local crafter, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the message had caused “unnecessary concern” within the creative community. This person went on to state that they had also contacted Trading Standards in Inverness and its enforcement officer, Richard Duncan, refuted the claims as well.
They added: “Spoke to a guy called Richard Duncan who clarified that they would never ask to see receipts at a craft fair and that imports are nothing to do with them – that’s HMRC.
“He also clarified that organisers are not responsible for stallholders and that Trading Standards can’t prosecute – that can only be done by the Procurator Fiscal.”
Mr Duncan said he would be happy to speak to anyone who still feels ill at ease over operating a crafting stall. He can be reached at: Trading Standards, 38 Harbour Road Inverness IV1 1UF. Tel: (01463) 644595
