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<p>The Government has agreed a set of voluntary commitments with major retailers to
promote the responsible sale of knives and to prevent the sale of knives to under-18s,
both in stores and online. The agreement commits retailers to having robust measures
in place to ensure age verification and both appropriate display and access to knives
in stores.</p><p>Retailers also act to ensure customers and staff are reminded that
knives are age restricted products and that all staff receive regular training. Since
March 2016, 19 major retailed have joined the agreement, with some stopping the sale
of single knives in their stores altogether. We are continuing to work with retailers
to strengthen the agreement further in relation to the display of knives.</p><p>The
Offensive Weapons Act 2019 strengthens the law in relation to the preventing the online
sale of knives to under 18s by requiring age verification and stopping knives being
sent to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has
arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product would not
be delivered into the hands of a person under 18.</p><p>We have paused commencement
of some of the Act’s provisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing
measures that have been in place to avoid placing significant additional burdens on
businesses and delivery companies to modify their sales and delivery systems and train
staff over this period. We are keeping the position under review and we expect to
be able to commence the provisions at the earliest opportunity.</p>
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