Weights and Measures Enforcement – Key
Messages
Why is this work important?
Fair and accurate measurement is vital to a competitive economy as it gives consumers and
businesses the confidence to buy and sell goods, allowing businesses to grow.
Without accurate information on quantity consumers and businesses would not be able to
make informed purchasing decisions and the market would not operate efficiently. Each
year in the UK, £622 billion worth of goods and utilities are sold on the basis of the
measurement of their quantity.1
The National Measurement and Regulation Office’s aim is to simplify technical regulations
for the benefit of British business. It is committed to delivering a weights and measures and
hallmarking regime that supports well functioning, competitive markets and which are fair,
proportionate, clear and ensures that the EU metrology legislation reduces barriers to trade
and keeps burdens on UK businesses to a minimum. NMRO is the central competent
authority overseeing weights and measures controls undertaken by local authorities (LAs).
It also maintains the standards which are used to ensure the traceability and accuracy of
measurement in the market place.
The NMRO works collaboratively with Local Authorities, and UK business to make sure that
weights and measures legislation is applied consistently and proportionately and that
regulation supports growth.
What is Trading Standards role?
Trading Standards have a key role to play: ensuring that consumers and businesses are
informed on quantity and receive fair measure in line with legal requirements and
monitoring the standards of weighing and measuring equipment for accuracy and
compliance. All Local Weights and Measures Authorities, (LWMAs) are responsible for
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£212 billion worth of household expenditure per year is protected by weights and measures legislation, £129
billion worth of goods is sold pre-packaged, while £39 billion is weighed or measured at point of sale. Deloitte
report, The Analysis of the Economics of Weights and Measures Legislation, June 2009.
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enforcing weights and measures laws, working with businesses to improve compliance and
carrying out official controls to ensure that weights and measures equipment is fair and just,
is not being used in a fraudulent way and meets legal requirements.
How the National Measurement and Regulation Office supports this work
Market Surveillance funding: is designed to help local authorities increase weights and
measures compliance by funding checks on weighing and measuring equipment which is
placed on the market and put into use under EU legislation. The NMRO runs annual market
surveillance projects that LAs can volunteer to participate in. These are advertised on
NMRO’s website and through the metrology expert panel. The types of weights and
measures equipment to be surveyed each year are decided upon in conjunction with the
metrology expert panel.
Co-ordination of national projects: The NMRO co-ordinates national projects on weights
and measures using a risk based approach. This provides a focus on specific areas and pulls
together results obtained across the country so any trends can be established. If you would
like to register your interest in participation in market surveillance or national projects
please email info@nmro.gov.uk .
Support for the metrology expert panel: NMRO provides secretariat support to the
metrology expert panel and participates in regular meetings with the group. NMRO
consults with the group on many enforcement and technical issues and offers guidance on
policy or legal issues when required. NMRO provides expertise for Trading Standards to call
on in matters of technological interpretation.
Section 70 return: This annual return, made each year by all Local Weights and Measures
Authorities, is summarised in the section 70 report. NMRO produce a risk matrix from the
data received to show the risk profile of different types of equipment. This matrix can be
used by LAs to target their resources at the higher risk categories which in turn helps LAs to
maximise the impact of their activities.
A copy of the latest Section 70 Report and risk matrix can be found here
Guidance: NMRO also provides advice and guidance to Trading Standards in the form of
Weights and Measures Bulletins (WMs) and through its wider guidance on legislation.
Training: NMRO works closely with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to develop
and deliver the DCATs Metrology module to ensure that Trading Standards Officers continue
to have access to high quality training opportunities. NMRO also works closely with CTSI to
offer continuous professional development through the joint CTSI/NMRO Metrology
Seminar. NMRO has also developed a DVD training guide to enforcement of the PGR which
can be used as a refresher for CPD purposes.
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Communication: NMRO works closely with the Trading Standards community through the
Metrology Experts Group and the CCTSI Lead Officers to ensure the framework continues to
be fit for purpose and to encourage proportionate and consistent enforcement.
Instruments
Why is this work important?
An estimated £39 billion of household expenditure is spent on goods that have been
weighed or measured at point of sale each year.
How the agency supports this work
NMRO has responsibility for the regulatory framework for weighing and measuring
equipment used for trade.
Regulating to ensure the accuracy of equipment means that the measured quantity for a
large number of individual transactions can be guaranteed by ensuring the continuing
accuracy and repeatability of the equipment making the measurement. In this way effective
consumer protection can be achieved without reliance upon checking of individual
transactions.
Each type of equipment regulated under weights and measures law has its own guidance.
The full range of equipment is as follows: Gas meters, electricity meters, fuel dispensers,
road tankers, non automatic weighing instruments (e.g. shop scales and weighbridges),
automatic weighing instruments (automatic catchweighing instruments, automatic
gravimetric filling instruments, automatic rail-weighbridges, beltweighers, discontinuous
totalisers), capacity serving measures (e.g. beer glasses), intoxicating liquor measuring
instruments, measures of length and cold water meters.
NMRO runs an approved verification scheme whereby companies can apply and be
approved to carry out verification of measuring instruments themselves. The companies are
audited, at least annually, and are subject to inspection by Trading Standards who help
ensure the system is working as intended.
NMRO has responsibility for the designation of notified bodies under the new approach
directives on non-automatic weighing instruments (NAWI) and measuring instruments
directive (MID) and the UK has statutory obligations to ensure that the conformity
assessment schemes operate effectively. NMRO is the UK notifying and market surveillance
authority for both of the metrology directives.
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Packaged Goods
Why is this work important?
The Weights and Measures (Packaged Goods) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/659) (PGR) set out
a programme of quantity control for packaged goods based on the average system.
An estimated £129 billion of household expenditure is spent on pre-packaged goods each
year.
The Regulations ensure accurate quantity labelling of pre-packaged goods and protect
consumers against short measure, while allowing businesses flexibility to control quantity
on the production line within specific tolerances.
The average system applies to most goods which are pre-packed in pre-determined
quantities by weight or volume. Its aim is to provide a defined regulatory framework for the
automatic filling of packages so that consumers may buy with confidence and businesses are
protected against unfair competition.
The Regulations also give businesses free access to EU markets for metrological purposes
through the use of the e-mark, which denotes that the packages comply with European
metrology rules.
What is Trading Standards role?
Trading Standards are responsible for enforcement of the PGR and will be working with local
businesses to help them comply with the rules. This may include guidance and advice to
local businesses on quantity control procedures, guidance on suitable equipment, checking
records of quantity controls or carrying out a reference test for statistical checking of
batches of packages.
This work is important for maintaining consumer confidence in quantity statements on
packaged goods, to help businesses with compliance and to ensure there is a fair and level
playing field.
How the agency supports this work
Policy: NMRO is responsible to Ministers for ensuring that the UK has a weights and
measures framework that supports well functioning, competitive markets, which is fair,
proportionate and clear and which protects consumers and supports business growth.
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Guidance: NMRO has issued national guidance on the PGR to help businesses and enforcers,
which can be found here
WELMEC: WELMEC is the European Co-operation on Legal Metrology. The UK chairs the
working group on pre-packages and works with other members to agree guidance which
makes it easier for businesses to comply and to encourage consistency across Europe.
Training: In addition to the DCATs Metrology module, NMRO has developed a DVD training
guide to enforcement of the PGR which can be used as a refresher or for CPD purposes.
Copies can be obtained by contacting training@nmro.gov.uk.
Communication: NMRO works closely with the Trading Standards community through the
Metrology Experts Group and the CTSI Lead Officers to ensure the framework continues to
be fit for purpose and to encourage proportionate and consistent enforcement.
UK regulation is underpinned by European law including EC Directives 76/211/EEC and
2007/45/EC which govern quantity control, the use of the ‘℮’ mark and specified quantities.
Please note that separate legislation exists for Northern Ireland.
Traceability of Standards
Measuring devices used to measure quantities for trade must be traceable by law to give
consumers and businesses confidence in measurement, but what exactly does this mean?
Traceability starts on a local level by trading standards officers (TSOs) from the local council
visiting local outlets and checking measuring instruments used for trade use against their
own working standards. These in turn are checked on a regular basis against the councils
own local standards. These standards are directly traceable via NMRO to the UK’s Primary
Standards held at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) which is traceable to international
standards held in Paris.
Contact and information:
National Measurement and Regulation Office
Stanton Avenue
Teddington
Middlesex
TW11 0JZ
Call us on: +44 (0)20 8943 7272
Fax us on: +44(0) 20 8943 7270
Email us at: info@nmro.gov.uk
Website: http://www.gov.uk/nmro
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