Article 16, Sec. 176 of the New York State Weights and Measures Law is a virtual mandate in favor of the use of the metric system in that state:
The legislature hereby finds and declares that voluntary and orderly conversion to the metric system of weights and measures is of vital importance to the economy of the state. It is hereby declared to be the public policy of this state to encourage the gradual implementation of the metric system throughout the state's government, industry, commerce, business, education and agriculture. This article is enacted in the exercise of the public power in order to encourage such implementation and to provide a revised code of weights and measures which will be responsive to the present and future needs of commerce, industry and consumers. The legislature finds and declares that the coordination and administration of this unitary regulatory system governing weights and measures throughout the state should be, and is hereby, vested in the commissioner of agriculture and markets and that enforcement of this article by the counties and cities of the state shall be under his supervision. As far as I know, there is no statutory bar to the permissive metric-only UPLR labeling amendment to be adopted in New York State. The matter seems to rest with the Bureau of Weights and Measures, which needs only to adopt NIST Handbook 130 containing the UPLR amendment to make the roll call unanimous. However, UPLR is a state matter, and in this case, only residents of the State of New York should write, call, or petition the following official in support of the adoption of NIST Handbook 130: Mike Sikula, Director, NYS Bureau of Weights and Measures NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets Bureau of Weights and Measures 10B Airline Drive Albany, New York 12235 mike.sik...@agriculture.ny.gov tel:(518)-457-3146 The UPLR regulation is found in NIST Handbook 130, 2013 Edition, Sec. 11.33, p. 102: 11.33. Inch-Pound Units, Exemptions - Consumer Commodities. – The requirements for statements of quantity in inch-pound units shall not apply to packages that bear appropriate SI units. This exemption does not apply to foods, drugs, or cosmetics or to packages subject to regulation by the FTC, meat and poultry products subject to the Federal Meat or Poultry Products Inspection Acts, and tobacco or tobacco products. (Added 1999) Include this citation as well as the text of Article 16, Sec. 176 in any letter, phone call, or petition. But, remember: New Yorkers ONLY, please! Paul Trusten, Registered Pharmacist Vice President and Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. Midland, Texas, USA +1(432)528-7724 www.metric.org trus...@grandecom.net On Sep 14, 2013, at 0:05, ezra.steinb...@comcast.net wrote: > Well summarized, Paul! > > Given the pivotal role New York State now plays in both completing coverage > in the USA of the UPLR and providing a springboard for passing the permissive > metric-only amendment to the FPLA, can you tell us where things stand > regarding New York amending their state law to allow metric-only labeling per > the UPLR? > > thanks! > Ezra > > From: "Paul Trusten" <trus...@mygrande.net> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu> > Cc: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu> > Sent: Friday, September 13, 2013 9:23:52 PM > Subject: [USMA:53247] Re: metric only labeling vs legacy measures labeling > requirements > > Parker, > > The state-level permissive metric-only labeling regulation is a part of the > Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulation (UPLR) as written by the National > Conference on Weights and Measures. As of now, we are down to only one U.S. > jurisdiction that has not adopted the UPLR amendment, and that is New York > State. The UPLR amendment affects only those products whose labeling is not > regulated by federal law. > > That federal law is the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA), which still > requires that both metric and legacy units be included on the labels it > regulates. But a unanimous stand on UPLR among the states, DC, and > territories would make a similar amendment to the FPLA much more arguable if > not inevitable. > > Paul Trusten, Registered Pharmacist > Vice President and Public Relations Director > U.S. Metric Association, Inc. > Midland, Texas, USA > +1(432)528-7724 > www.metric.org > trus...@grandecom.net > > > On Sep 13, 2013, at 17:30, "Parker Willey Jr." <pawil...@pacbell.net> wrote: > > Hi > > I remember reading about the FPLA and that metric only labeling is permitted > in all but if I remember correctly, 2 states, Alabama and New York. > > On the shelf of stores there is supposed to be a label (sometimes missing) > that shows the price of the item. If the shelf label which is printed > probably weekly by some store computer due to price changes, can show the > price and any missing legacy measures and / or SI metric measures, and the > label on the jar or package only shows metric sizes, would the shelf label > satisfy the requirement for legacy measures in Alabama and New York? > > I am just trying to come up with creative ways to get around the regulations > to advance metric use. > > ....Parker Willey Jr. > San Jose, CA >
