The government has announced a ban on the sale of disposable barbecues in light of the wildfire risk they pose in the current heatwave, with potential prison sentences for retailers who breach the rules.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham previously urged retailers to voluntarily stop stocking the products, while a number of forecourt firms said they would remove them from sale, but ministers have now announced they are temporarily outlawed.
The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade says disposable barbecues “have been the cause of a number of serious wildfires across the country over the summer months” and that, given the current heatwave and the dry conditions it has brought about, “the supply and subsequent foreseeable use of disposable barbecues poses a significant risk to the public, and the environment”.
The power to ban the items comes from the General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) 2005, which require that “a product must not present any risk or only the minimum risks compatible with the product’s use”.
The government has interpreted this, in light of the usage patterns of disposable barbecues and the risks they pose, to determine that the items “cannot be considered a safe product”, and they should therefore “not be made available for supply either in store or online at the current time”.
Retailers, as well as distributors, that fail to heed to rules will be “in breach of their responsibilities under the GPSR”, with Trading Standards able to force them to stop selling disposable barbecues. If this is not done, “authorities may initiate prosecution proceedings”, which could see retailers “face an imprisonment sentence and/or financial penalty”.
Ministers have described disposable barbecues as being “designed for domestic single-use only, outdoors, not intended for re-filling or reuse. Comprising of fuel tray, grill grid and including charcoal fuel sufficient to provide sufficient cooking temperature for the duration of a single cooking episode”.
