yesterday.

And a 15-point plan laid out by a special committee looking into the issue could be way forward, said Community Affairs Minister Sen. Yvette Swan.

Sen. Swan tabled the Report of the Consumer Task Force yesterday, the fruit of an 11-month, 22-meeting probe.

She said Bermuda -- because of its relative isolation -- had been protected from much trade malpractice.

And the fact that most of Bermuda's goods were imported from countries with strict trading standards already in place offered additional safeguards.

Sen. Swan added that the Consumer Affairs Board -- although lacking legislative clout -- had "done a good job in getting the industry to cooperate''.

But she said "life-threatening and dangerous'' items like highly flammable clothes, defective toys and risky power tools demanded a fresh look at the situation.

She explained Bermuda had no legislation to enforce the recall of goods proven to be dangerous, unlike other countries.

Sen. Swan said: "We are quite aware of this -- we feel the time has come that we have our own safety standards.'' She added she personally steered away from hair care products labelled for professional use only -- and said she had heard horror stories of people damaging their faces and hair using products only safe in the hands of experts.

Sen. Swan said she had also heard a lot of complaints about date-stamping and sharp practices on the part of shops.

And she said local producers ought to be made to list ingredients so those who may suffer life-threatening allergic reactions can steer clear of foods with things like peanuts in them.

But Opposition Senate Leader Milton Scott said implementing the idea of having food labels on locally prepared foods could be difficult.

"I don't know how we are going to deal with that locally,'' Sen. Scott said.

"I don't think we have the facilities. I think we will have to look into it further.'' He said a possible solution might be to invite an overseas company to visit once a year to test local foods to determine their nutritional value.

Earlier, Sen. Swan said that misleading advertising -- where people advertised non-existent sales to draw in customers or bought in sub-standard goods specially for sales -- needed to be clamped down on as well.

Sen. Swan said: "If retailers want customers to trust them, they must earn that trust.'' She added other things which needed attention were guarantees and warranties, so those who sold expensive items like computers would have to undertake to service and repair them as well.

Independent Sen. Alf Oughton pointed out that the report lacked comments from actual retailers.

"It might have added a little more to it if you had evidence from the group being accused,'' Sen. Oughton said.

Despite this, Sen. Oughton congratulated the authors of the report and the speed in which it was completed.

Opposition Sen. Terry Lister -- an accountant -- said he was disappointed by the table of complaints attached to the report which did not contain enough information for the data to be as useful as it might have been.

He added one of the problems with consumer legislation in Bermuda -- which it shared with tourism and the drugs problem -- was that people "continue to be in a state of denial''.

"We have to get past the denial stage and come face to face with the reality,'' he said.

He added that restaurants with a mandatory 15 percent gratuity still left space for tips on bills and urged the trade "not to play games in this area''.

But he urged caution on suggestions visitors be warned about the problem, saying it was better to speak to the restaurant trade and the Tourism Department rather than showing "a red flag'' to visitors.

Sen. Lawrence Scott (UBP) said Bermuda had been a society based on common sense -- which meant Islanders were less likely to fall for the obvious frauds he saw people being taken in by on US consumer affairs TV programmes.

He added: "Complaints tend to come from societies where complaints have become the rule of the day. We have to be careful that when we start making these kind of rules that we are not culturing a society which takes away from that common sense I was talking about.'' And he warned against adopting UK, US or Canadian legislation "lock, stock and barrel''.

But he said: "At the same time, the other side of the balance is that there must be standards.'' Sen. Scott noted six complaints about poor finishing by contractors in a report appendix.

He said Bermuda had a tradition of "trial and error'' ingenuity and do-it-yourself which needed to be protected.

Sen. Scott said: "If the average complainer had more experience about the work, they would understand the contractor's problems. We may be ruining a part of Bermuda because of the aggressive consumer consciousness elsewhere.'' Sen. Walwyn Hughes (Ind) pointed out that the report did not mention telemarketing -- sale pitches delivered over the telephone.

Telemarketing was a growing problem in the US and UK and suggested that provisions should be made to address the issue.

And he predicted that a substantial body of law will be created to back up the Consumer Protection Board's guidelines and codes since no-one would listen to them if there were no consequences.

Sen. Angelita Fox (UBP) said that when the Government implements the certification requirement for mechanics, they should do so gradually.

"When doing this, they should make sure they don't displace people,'' Sen.

Fox said. "It should be phased in.'' But Sen. Oughton warned that certification would not guarantee well done work.

"You can still get an inferior job from licensed people,'' he added.

Sen. Allan Marshall (UBP) applauded the report for supporting trade certification, adding that professionals should be able to demonstrate trade qualifications.

And he said Government should act on several recommendations in the report and introduce new laws to protect customers.

But he added: "I don't think we should introduce legislation for mandatory price stamping.

"Putting prices on every product would simply cause higher prices and really it's up to the consumer to ask the right questions.'' Government Senate Leader E.T. (Bob) Richards added that shoppers should use their brains to ask if products represented value for money.

He welcomed the report -- but dismissed recommendations to redesign restaurant receipts to make 15 percent tips optional.

Sen. Richards added: "All people have to do is ask at the restaurant beforehand if the gratuity is included. It's all part of the philosophy that consumers should use their heads.''