fyi ...
Imperial traders giving short measure says metric group
The general public would be well advised to avoid buying from traders who use
illegal scales that only weigh in pounds and ounces so says the UK Metric
Association (UKMA). Imperial-only scales have not been checked by Trading
Standards Officers for over eight years, and it is highly likely that they are
no longer accurate. There is therefore a 50:50 chance that when you buy from
shop or market stall that uses illegal scales you will get less than you are
paying for.
Responding to reports that a market stall-holder in Hackney is being prosecuted
on Friday, 18 January for Weights and Measures offences, UKMA Chairman said;
Obviously, I can't comment on this particular case as we don't know the full
facts. However, the publicity surrounding the case suggests that, like the
so-called metric martyrs in Sunderland and elsewhere, this is really a
political stunt. People are entitled to campaign to change the law, but they
are not entitled to break laws just because they disagree with them. They don't
deserve any sympathy.
Background
Since 2000, UK law has required that all shops and markets in the UK must weigh
and measure at the point of sale (checkout) in grams and kilograms. Traders'
scales are periodically tested by Trading Standards Officers (TSOs) to ensure
they are accurate. However, traders can still give an equivalent price in
pounds and ounces if they wish. Customers can also order in pounds and ounces
if they wish, and the shopkeeper or trader simply has to weigh out an
equivalent amount in grams and kilograms.
Originally, it was intended that the option to show equivalent imperial prices
would be phased out after 2009, but the European Commission has now recommended
that this option should be retained indefinitely. However, increasingly,
supermarkets are dropping the imperial equivalents, and customers are ordering
at the deli counter in grams rather than obsolete ounces.
Unfortunately, egged on by right wing, Eurosceptic politicians, some traders
decided in 2000 to try to defy the law and continue weighing in pounds and
ounces. The so-called metric martyrs (more accurately, they were imperial
luddites) were found guilty of various offences under the Weights and Measures
Act and fined. All their appeals to the UK courts and even the European Court
of Human Rights were rejected in 2001/2.
The current issue in Hackney appears to be an attempt to re-run the same
political stunt. It is unlikely to work, as it is now obvious that the law is
home-grown UK law and not dictated by Brussels. People are getting rather bored
by the antics of fringe politicians seeking bogus martyrdom.
UKMA Chairman, Robin Paice added:
The purpose of the UK law is to ensure that consumers can compare goods in the
supermarket and the street market on the same basis, using the same measurement
units. How can you compare tomatoes at £2.09 per kilogram in the supermarket
with tomatoes at 99p per pound in the market unless you know the conversion
factors and have a pocket calculator with you? It is fundamental to consumer
protection that every body uses the same measurement units.
My advice to shoppers is this:
* Avoid traders who use illegal imperial scales. You don't know whether you
are getting short measure.
* Don't waste your sympathy on traders who deliberately broke the law in
order to seek bogus martyrdom. The vast majority of traders operate legally and
cope perfectly well with metric measures.
Every country needs a single system of weights and measures that everybody
understands and uses for all purposes. Nobody needs two systems.
