Registration for those wanting to conduct business in Kent will not begin until September 1, but information on what will be required is already available on the Kent County Council Trading Standards Website at www.kent.gov.uk/tradingstandards or Medway Council Trading Standards Website at www.medway.gov.uk or by contacting either of the council’s Trading Standards Department at 01622 221012 (Kent) and 01634 333555 (Medway).
It appears that in practice, some elements of the record keeping required under the law are likely to be more manageable than anticipated. For instance, if the relevant purchase is by cheque or credit card, then recording these details is sufficient without having to take down the name and address of the purchaser. This also means that for the purpose of fairs, recording the name and address of a purchaser for items being sold for more than £500 will only be necessary when taking cash.
Jason Franks, managing director of DMG Antiques Fairs, who run the Detling events and who were at the forefront of the campaign against the
Bill, believes that the concessions the campaigners won on behalf of the trade will make for a better future under the Act.
“Thanks to the valiant efforts of the Kent antiques trade, the most odious aspects of the Kent County Bill have been eliminated from the Act,” he said. “In consequence this law should have a minimal impact on those wishing to trade in Kent.
“The bill comes into effect on December 1, 2001. In mid-July we will issue straightforward guidance notes to stallholders so that they will be aware of the small increase in record keeping that will in some cases be necessary. I am confident that stallholders and buyers alike will be pleasantly surprised by the minimal disruption to normal trading activities caused by the law.”
• The authorities in New York State in the USA are in the process of introducing similar measures to the Kent Bill. They want dealers in secondhand goods to obtain identification from sellers before purchasing items from them.
Kent Bill goes live from December 1
The trade will have to abide by the provisions of the Kent and Medway Bills as from December 1 this year. The announcement came from Kent Trading Standards on May 16, after the county council passed the resolution to introduce the Bill.
