INDUSTRY COMMENT: BHETA


TWO RULEBOOKS; ONE MARKET: WHY DIY AND GARDEN SUPPLIERS FACE A GROWING COMPLIANCE CHALLENGE


If it feels like the legislative landscape for DIY and garden suppliers has never moved faster, that’s because it never has. Viewpoint for DIY Week from Steve Edwards, BHETA’s sector manager for DIY and garden.


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egulations on product safety, packaging, employment law, chemicals, trade remedies


and consumer protection are all being rewritten at once. And even more challenging, this process is happening in both London and in Brussels, often on different timetables and to different rules. For any supplier trading UK-wide, or exporting into the EU directly, this is not a technicality. It affects labelling, documentation, and increasingly product design itself. For most UK suppliers, Brexit was supposed to mean one set of rules to follow. In practice, many BHETA members now find themselves navigating two. Northern Ireland’s continued alignment with EU law under the Windsor Framework means goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland can trigger EU requirements – on packaging, product safety and soon digital product information – even though the same goods are sold freely in England, Scotland, and Wales under GB rules. The result is that complexity is the new normal! No single supplier can be expected to track all the implications this alone, and no one should have to do so. The direction of travel – more regulation and more overlap between UK and EU requirements – is clear, even where the detail is not yet settled. In short, there is going to be progressively less and less room for error.


BHETA monitoring and lobbying more vital than ever That is why BHETA’s role in monitoring and lobbying on proposed legislative change has never mattered more. By engaging directly with Government and regulators on members’ behalf, we turn a genuinely complicated picture into something members can act on with confidence.


10 DIY WEEK SEPTEMBER 2026


Left: Steve Edwards, BHETA’s sector manager for DIY and garden


On knife retailing, for example,


BHETA worked closely with the Home Office on the passage of new knife crime legislation, helping shape practical, proportionate rules on age verification and sales reporting that protect the public without making compliant trade unworkable. On overseas parcels, we continue to press Government on closing the loophole that lets low- value imports undercut UK-based retailers and suppliers. Here are just a few examples of the next most pressing and fast- moving legislative changes, which require action and intervention. • Packaging sustainability: UK Extended Producer Responsibility fees are now recyclability-based, EU packaging rules are tightening from


this year, and a UK carbon border charge on steel and aluminium imports arrives in 2027 with an EU equivalent already live. • Employment law: Day-one sick pay and family leave rights are already in force, and a shortened qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims is coming in 2027 – meaning decisions employers make about new hires now will matter well before that date lands. • UK product safety: Suppliers should also be tracking a UK product safety framework overhaul that could bring new duties for online marketplaces, incoming EU rules on connected and cybersecure products, and a review of the anti- dumping duty on ceramic tableware that could see rates rise. None of these are settled yet, but all are close enough to require attention now, not later.


BHETA Launches Legislative Update Report for Members In this legislative environment, BHETA is adding another service for its members. Designed to help


companies navigate and keep track of compliance requirements, the new BHETA Legislative Update Report is a comprehensive, regularly refreshed briefing document, tracking over 35 live and upcoming UK and EU measures.


Each is rated by status – live, being implemented soon, or awaiting consultation outcomes – and each update provides clear, practical actions rather than just a summary of the law. The new report can be accessed via www. bheta.co.uk and will sit alongside BHETA’s programme of lobbying as yet another vital tool helping BHETA members navigate this new world of compliance. BHETA represents suppliers in the home improvement, garden, housewares, and small electricals sectors, providing members with insight, networking, and business development opportunities.


• For more information, contact BHETA Member Services on 0121 237 1130 or visit www.bheta.co.uk.


www.diyweek.net


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