This is International Consumer Safety Week and I am at the International Consumer Product, Health and Safety Conference in London.

Delegates are here from all over the globe, and all involved in making the world a safer place for children and adults. They are from all sectors including governments, the EU, regulators, lawyers, businesses and consumers.

Lots of discussion on hazard data, risk and communication of risk, market surveillance, fair competition, piracy and counterfeiting. It is fascinating to see how danger warnings are now being communicated to consumers via U Tube, Twitter, Flicker, Blog and more.

In the USA next year an interactive database will be launched on which consumers will log their own unsafe product experiences. A real challenge for public authorities as to how they respond and for businesses too. In the UK consumer safety is one of the many roles performed by trading standards including the checking of imported products at ports with Customs. Successive recent Governments however have behaved as if the problems are all over. If only.

We don't know the scale of any problem however because in 2002 the Government stopped funding the UK injury database. It is a head in the sand policy that needs to be reverted especially as we are now so out of step with our EU and international trading partners.