Chartered Trading Standards Institute

16/10/2026

Counterfeit goods frequently crop up in everyday Trading Standards work, whether online or on the high street.

🚨CTSI's Professional Competency in Intellectual Property, developed in partnership with the Intellectual Property Office UK gives you the confidence and practical skills to identify and respond to issues involving trademarks, copyright, designs and patents.

🧠Strengthen your decision making, take proportionate action, and handle IP related cases with clarity.

✅ FREE funded spaces available

👉Secure your place today: https://ow.ly/CAJH50Y4gQh

16/10/2026

🧠 Understanding neurodivergence is especially important for customer-facing organisations because both your customers and employees are likely to include neurodivergent people. Recognising and accommodating different ways of thinking, communicating and processing information can improve customer experience, employee performance and business outcomes.

🗣️Do you work in a customer facing role, or lead a team working in policy, compliance, accessibility, or digital and service design?

Join CTSI's Neuro-Inclusion Training and learn how neurodiversity and neurodivergence can shape customer experiences and consumer vulnerability.

Learn how everyday services, environments, and communication styles can unintentionally exclude neurodivergent customers and discover the simple, lawful, practical adjustments that can make your services more inclusive, accessible and effective for everyone.

📆14 December 2026 |10.00 - 12.30
👉Book your place now: https://ow.ly/QRaV50Zx6Zt

16/10/2026

📢 BOOK NOW: Follow the Fake and uncover the bigger picture behind counterfeit crime.

Counterfeit to***co, vapes and pharmaceuticals are more than illicit products. They can be linked to organised crime, consumer harm and wider criminal activity.

Join our FREE Follow the Fake: Counterfeit To***co, Vapes and Pharmaceuticals training and learn how to:
✅ Identify counterfeit goods and key product indicators
✅ Recognise links between counterfeiting and organised crime
✅ Understand emerging threats across high-risk sectors
✅ Strengthen your enforcement response with practical intelligence and investigative insights
✅ Learn how industry partners can support enforcement activity and investigations

📅 20 October | 10:00 - 12:15

🔗 Book your place: https://www.tradingstandards.uk/practitioners/home-office-training/follow-the-fake-counterfeit-to***co-vapes-and-pharmaceuticals/

15/10/2026

Illegal skin-lightening products continue to be found on sale across the UK.

This , we revisit CTSI's investigation into the issue and the risks these products can pose to consumers. The story highlights why understanding the communities we serve is essential to effective consumer protection.

Illegal skin lightening products continue to be found across the UK, with Trading Standards officers reporting their sale in an increasingly wide range of outlets, including butchers, specialist food shops and small grocery stores, as well as online.

15/10/2026

🧩 Trading Standards officers and those working in public sector roles, frequently deal with complex problems that have no obvious solution. Investigations can involve multiple stakeholders, conflicting information, legal considerations and resource constraints.

Our Solving Complex Problems: Practical Tools for Regulatory Professionals workshop gives you practical tools and proven techniques to solve complex problems and make better decisions.

This workshop provides practical tools to help officers:
✅ Analyse complex enforcement and regulatory issues.
✅ Identify root causes rather than simply treating symptoms.
✅ Think creatively when traditional approaches are not producing results.
✅ Make evidence-based decisions with confidence.
✅ Balance professional judgement with legal and organisational requirements.
✅ Develop innovative solutions to persistent consumer protection problems.

📅 3 December 2026 | 09:30 - 12:30
💻 Online via MS Teams

👉 Book your place today: https://ow.ly/ZrpN50ZQyIN.

15/10/2026

🎃 Buying your kids’ Halloween costumes on an online marketplace? We found over 90% of those we tested FAIL UK safety standards.

A Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) investigation found that 10 of 11 costumes bought from third-party sellers on OnBuy, Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Shein and TikTok Shop were non-compliant, with missing safety warnings, labels and traceability information.

Working with the London Fire Brigade, we also showed how quickly a child’s costume can catch fire near a naked flame, such as a pumpkin candle.

Before you buy:
✅ Choose reputable retailers or UK-based sellers
✅ Check for a UKCA or CE mark and a UK manufacturer or importer’s name and address
✅ Read all the safety information on the label and in the listing
✅ Use battery-operated candles or glow sticks, never naked flames

We’re calling on the Government to put a clear legal duty on online marketplaces for the safety of products sold on their platforms.

Read the full findings: www.tradingstandards.uk/news-policy-campaigns/news-room/2026/over-90-of-halloween-costumes-sold-online-don-t-comply-with-uk-laws/

15/10/2026

🗣️Are you in a customer-facing role? Ready to lead on inclusion and communication?

Become a Consumer Vulnerability Champion 🌟

🚀 The Consumer Friend Academy is launching its next 4-week training programme this November, designed to equip professionals with the skills to better support vulnerable consumers.

Supported by CTSI, this programme is ideal for anyone working in customer-facing, compliance, or service design roles across both the public and private sectors.

You’ll gain practical tools to:
✅Identify consumer vulnerabilities
✅Improve service delivery
✅Drive inclusive and fair practices across the UK

⏳Spaces are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

👉Book Now: https://ow.ly/vvPS50Z07tY

14/10/2026

🍽️ Exclusive CTSI member benefit

As part of our Law in Practice series, join a cross-sector discussion on the changing food regulatory landscape and what it means for Trading Standards professionals.

This practical session will help you stay ahead of regulatory developments and understand how upcoming changes could affect your work.

✅ Understand upcoming changes to food regulation and their impact on your role, including the SPS Agreement
✅ Gain practical guidance on what action to take now and how to prepare for the future
✅ Engage directly with experts from the FSA, CTSI, enforcement and industry through live Q&A and discussion

📅 4 November 2026 | 12:00 – 13:30
👉 Book now: https://www.tradingstandards.uk/practitioners/professional-training/food-for-thought-a-cross-sector-discussion-on-changes-in-the-food-regulatory-landscape/

Free for CTSI members as part of your membership benefits. Recordings will also be available via the CPPD Hub.

14/10/2026

👁️‍🗨️AI can significantly enhance the effectiveness of Trading Standards teams by helping them manage growing workloads, identify risks earlier and focus resources on the highest-priority cases.

Join our practical session focussing on how AI can drive efficiency and increased productivity in your Trading Standards role.

This introduction will cover:
✅ The latest AI tools
✅ Effective prompt-writing techniques
✅ The confidence to use AI tools straight away
✅ Identify practical applications for your specific role

📅 2 November 2026 | 09:30 – 12:00
👉Book now: https://ow.ly/1Pkx50Zx5rn
Spaces are likely to fill up fast.

14/10/2026

📢 CTSI are recruiting a Professional Competency Product Safety Trainer! 🌟

CTSI are looking for a Trading Standards professional with a background in product safety to become the trainer for the CTSI Professional Competency in Product Safety. The role involves training candidates and assessing their work against the competency fairly, consistently and accurately.

For more information and to apply, visit https://www.tradingstandards.uk/practitioners/job-opportunities/