The half price membership offer is only available for the next three months. From £45 a year you will have access to a variety of services designed to enhance your business and save you money.

Benefits include a full-time secretariat who can offer you expert advice and support. You may require advice about dealing with a supplier, legal advice about how to manage creditors or the unpleasant task of staff redundancy. There will always be someone to point you in the right direction with their expert knowledge of the industry.

Membership services offer you further value with a free business support helpline, legal advice, insurance discounts, free PR for three months and advertising opportunities at preferential rates. Above all, you will be part of an association that will fight your corner and speak loudly with the combined voice of its members.

BPA Retail Council- Annual meeting

As usual there will be an annual meeting of the BPA Retail Council at Harrogate Nursery Fair. Any policy changes will be relayed to the retail membership at the earliest opportunity. If you join now at the lower rate you could participate in the next meeting which provides an ideal discussion forum that will also introduce you to other retailers.

BPA UK Pavilion at Kind und Jugend

The BPA is responding to the demand from British companies to have a larger presence at Kind und Jugend in Cologne, taking place from the 16th to 19th September 2010 and as a result is organising a ‘Best of Britain’ UK Pavilion.

Benefits of the pavilion include a collective, branded and prominent presence at the event. This can certainly benefit smaller companies providing the assurance that they won’t get lost in the crowd. In addition they will receive assistance and support from the BPA and other UK companies. A welcome pack will be provided prior to the show with all the insider tips and advice that is needed to exhibit in Cologne and beyond. Participating companies also benefit from a central meeting area for business discussions and invaluable networking opportunities. The members of the BPA UK Pavilion will also be substantially promoted in the UK and Europe with the support of Koelnmesse and the BPA.

Thank you to all companies who have enquired since we announced the Pavilion in the last issue. Please be assured we are holding your stand and will update you shortly once we finalise details with Koelnmesse in February.

We hope you will join us in Cologne in order to achieve a successful show. There are still places available so please register your interest by contacting Sarah Firth, Event Manager for the BPA on: 0845 456 9580 or sarah@babyandchildfair.co.uk

BPA Baby & Child 2010

The executive committee is currently reviewing options for BPA Baby & Child 2010. There is a strong requirement for an Autumn show for many manufacturers but we need to ensure that a wider selection of manufacturers and retailers attend the show. We will be announcing more details on the show shortly.

New BPA Member Service- Product Recall Insurance

A new membership service offered to our members is Product Recall insurance from Stonebridge Corporate Ltd. Product recalls are occurring more frequently and often receive extensive media attention in which a poorly handled product recall can have a devastating impact upon brand reputation, an organisation’s assets and possibly their ability to continue trading.

Product Recall insurance is designed to reimburse the costs incurred by a recall and the replacement of a product. It also provides expert assistance and advice during this process. Whilst product liability insurance includes some protection, it does not always reimburse the insured for their own costs incurred to withdraw and replace a product. Please see the BPA website for further details on this new membership service: www.b-p-a.org

Standards Update

Members of the BPA are entitled to a discount on standards and are regularly updated with new standards or amendments. There are three new standard amendments that were published in December 2009:

BS 7972:2001+A1:2009 Safety requirements and test methods for children’s bedguards for domestic use

BS EN 71-8:2003+A4:2009 Safety of toys - swings, slides and similar activity toys for indoor and outdoor family domestic use

BS EN 60335-2-15:2002+A2:2008 Safety of household and similar electrical appliances. There are particular requirements for appliances for heating liquids. Examples of appliances that are within the scope of this standard are: feeding-bottle heaters, kettles and other appliances for boiling water having a rated capacity not exceeding 10l, milk heaters, etc.

The following standard is under revision:

BS EN 14362-1 (Revision) Textiles. Methods for the determination of certain aromatic amines derived from azo colorants. Detection of the use of certain azo colorants accessible without extraction (this will supersede BS EN 14362-1:2003).

The following is a new and revised British Standard that was made available last month:

BS 8409:2009 Fully enclosed play facilities. Code of practice. This supersedes BS 8409: 2002.

In addition, seven standards regarding playground equipment have been withdrawn.

If you would like to order a copy of the above new standards or amendments please contact Julie James from the BPA on: 0845 456 9580 or email Julie@b-p-a.org

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