Description of goods

The Trade Descriptions Act 1968 makes it a criminal offence to misdescribe goods in the course of a trade or business.

How can a trade description be given?

A description may be:

spoken
written or printed
a picture
an advert.

In addition if goods are supplied in response to a request, using a specific trade description, it is possible that it would be held that the supplier of the goods has applied the description himself.

What are the offences under the Act (relating to goods)?

The Act makes it an offence to:

Apply a false or misleading description to goods (e.g. by writing it down, making a verbal statement or by turning back a car’s odometer); or
Supply or offer to supply goods to which a false or misleading trade description is applied. A person exposing goods for supply (e.g. in a shop) or having them in his possession for supply (e.g. in a storeroom) is deemed to offer to supply them for the purposes of the Act.

These offences are strict liability offences; i.e. it is possible for a trader to commit an offence without intending to do so.

To find out more, please look at our leaflets in the more information section on this page.

Description of goods

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