A NATIONAL initiative aimed at protecting consumers and small businesses from the trade of fake goods on social media is being trialled in North Yorkshire.

The Real Deal Online programme has been developed by the National Markets Group for IP Protection (NMG) in conjunction with the National Trading Standards eCrime Team (NTSeCT), which is hosted by North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council.

The programme sets out to heighten awareness among administrators of social media groups of their legal responsibility to prevent the promotion and sale of counterfeit goods and other illicit products within their groups.

It will be rolled out at locally by Trading Standards Services and establishes a process for trading standards officers to contact administrators of social media buy-and-sell groups to help them run a fake-free group. Administrators are invited to follow the Real Deal Online Code of Practice. This requires group administrators to welcome local trading standards officers as members and to agree to five steps designed to prohibit and combat the sale of counterfeit and other illicit goods.

Seven social media buy-and-sell groups in the region, with a total of more than 41,000 members, have agreed to the Code of Practice and now display the Real Deal logo on their selling pages.

Mark Bonney, administrator of three buy-sell-swap groups in Hambleton and Richmondshire, said: “The idea behind the Real Deal initiative is sound, getting folks to read the info is a different ball game. However, I'm most happy to support what in my eyes is a much-needed lean towards tighter control.”