Trader is fined over ‘heavy metal’ jewellery
A TRADER has been fined for selling jewellery containing harmful levels of heavy metals.
Company director Ting Li has been hauled before the courts after Trading Standards officers visited her shop on Derby Street, in Cheetham Hill.
Officers from Manchester City Council’s Trading Standards Team visited the Handsn UK Limited premises on November 5, 2019, following concerns from another local authority.
They seized a variety of products believed to be counterfeit, including brands such as Chanel, Dior, Hello Kitty and Disney.
Jewellery was also taken away to be tested for heavy metals.
Test results confirmed that the items seized were fake and the jewellery contained unsafe levels of heavy metals.
Earrings seized exceeded the maximum prescribed limit of lead (0.07%) and a necklace contained more than 800 times the amount of Cadmium allowed (8.1%).
On December 5 that year, a further visit was carried out by
Trading Standards to seize items of jewellery which had been found to be unsafe.
Two further items were tested with the remaining stock seized.
A second necklace tested contained nearly 160 times the prescribed amount of Cadmium (1.6%) and a third, more than 170 times the safe level of lead (8.6%).
In total, 262 items were seized from the premises.
The company and its director Ting Li were invited for interview by council staff.
Li stated that she relied on the factories where she procured her goods to monitor safety compliance rules.
At Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court last Thursday (October
21), Li and Handsn UK Limited were charged with six Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals Regulation (REACH) offences and five
TradeMark offences. Both the company and Li pleaded guilty to all charges. The company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £200, as well as £2,433 legal costs. Li was handed a 12-month community order and must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
She was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £95, and costs of £1,000. Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar, executive member for Neighbourhoods said: “This case shows what vital work our officers in Trading Standards do every day. “Their efforts ensure that potentially harmful products are kept off our streets and help set an example for any other unscrupulous trader thinking of doing the same.
“I’d like to extend my thanks to them and to our legal team who were able to secure this successful prosecution.”
This case shows what vital work our officers in Trading Standards do every day Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar