Members rightly ask us to do as much as we can to enhance the benefits of membership and we are always looking at ways to add greater value. Our legal team have recently been working closely with Kent County Council Trading Standards and I am pleased to announce ABTA has a new Primary Authority partnership with them.

This will bring more benefits to Members who follow the advice that ABTA provides on Trading Standards regulatory requirements. Kent Trading Standards will confirm relevant ABTA Member advice as “Assured Advice” and our core guidance –  the Code of Conduct and Guidance on the Code of Conduct – have already been through this process. 

Provided that Members follow this advice, they can be confident that they are complying with the law. Additionally, a Primary Authority takes away the risk of businesses being subject to conflicting opinions from other trading standards authorities and facing unnecessary investigation. Any Trading Standards authority must notify Kent Trading Standards if they intend to take enforcement action against an ABTA Member. That action can be halted if it conflicts with Primary Authority Advice, i.e. the ABTA Code of Conduct and Guidance on the Code. 

The ABTA Code of Conduct gives customers confidence as it aims to ensure that Members maintain high standards which must be lived up to. As part of this development the Code is receiving a number of updates, which Members should familiarise themselves with, these are detailed in this issue of ABTA Today. 

The latest Code of Conduct and Guidance can be found online here.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive