50.— (1) Subject to subsection (5), if the Minister considers it to be in the interest of consumers to have a product, or a class or type of product, marked with or accompanied by any information (or both), the Minister may make regulations—

(a) prescribing the product or class or type of product,

(b) prescribing—

(i) any stamps, marks, tags and labels for use on those products and the manner of their use, or

(ii) any information to accompany those products when they are supplied to consumers by traders, or

(iii) the matters referred to in both of the foregoing subparagraphs,

(c) requiring traders who supply a prescribed product, or a product of a prescribed class or type, to—

(i) stamp, mark, tag or label them in accordance with regulations made under paragraph (b)(i), or

(ii) have prescribed information under paragraph (b)(ii) accompany those products in the manner and form specified in the regulations, or

(iii) do the things referred to in both of the foregoing subparagraphs,

and

(d) regulating or prohibiting the supply of a prescribed product, or a product of a prescribed class or type, if any regulation under paragraph (b) or (c) is not complied with.

(2) Subject to subsection (5), if the Minister considers it to be in the interest of consumers that advertisements for a product, or a class or type of product, contain or refer to any information relating to those products (or do both those things), the Minister may make regulations—

(a) prescribing the product, or class or type of product, and that information, and

(b) requiring traders who market or advertise those products to do either or both of the following, as the Minister considers necessary or appropriate:

(i) include that information in their advertisements and to do so in the manner and form specified in the regulations;

(ii) specify in their advertisements the means by which that information may be obtained by a consumer.

(3) The Minister may make different regulations under this section for—

(a) different classes or types of products or traders,

(b) different classes or types of advertisements,

(c) different circumstances, and

(d) different geographical areas of the State.

(4) A regulation made under this section may apply to the whole State or to a specified geographical area of the State.

(5) The Minister may not make a regulation under this section unless the Minister is satisfied that in the context—

(a) the average consumer would need the stamp, mark, tag, label or information in order to make an informed transactional decision (“material information”), and

(b) if such material information was withheld, omitted or concealed, it would be likely to cause the average consumer to make a transactional decision that the average consumer would not otherwise make.

(6) Subsection (5) does not apply in respect of regulations that may be made under subsection (1) relating to indications of the standard of fineness of articles of precious metal.