The DTI and NRCS have had their final stakeholder meetings on the Draft Legal Metrology Regulations. These Regulations cover weight, volume, measurement, and many other areas but our focus is obviously on weight. Many industry bodies, companies and interested parties attended these stakeholder meetings. Whilst a large number of concerns were raised, it was made clear to us by DTI and NRCS that they would not be making any further changes to the Regulations. We can expect these Regulations to come into effect in 12-18months time with far reaching consequences to industry. Below are some of the most important changes in our assessment;
- Registration;
Henceforth, all companies which in any way sell, manufacture, import, repair, calibrate etc. weighing equipment must register with NRCS and report certain information to them. The how and why of this is very unclear, as are the costs of registration. We are also not certain what information they will require from us, once this has been made clear we will be able to assess if/how this will affect client confidentiality and advise accordingly.
Whilst we support this move as it will assist in cleaning up the industry, as always, the devil is in the detail and we await to see how the NRCS will implement. What is clear is that we will be paying additional fees.
- Amendments of Technical Regulations;
I will not go into too much detail regarding the changes to Technical Regulations, except to say that reading between the lines it seems as though the DTI/NRCS is aiming to bring an end to the use of mechanical scales for trade/prescribed purposes. We urge clients to consider their choices carefully when making decisions regarding the purchase of mechanical scales. The largest impact of this will be felt in industries that weigh products in hazardous areas such as LPG gas depots, as EX approved equipment is extremely expensive.
- Split of repairs and Verifications.
This is arguably the most controversial and far reaching of the regulations. In simple terms, all companies and their Technicians must now register as Repair Bodies with NRCS (no indication of costs yet). A Technician who conducts a repair may not Verify the same scale, but must issue a repair certificate and then submit the equipment to a separate Verification Officer for Verification. In practice this means that our teams will now need to comprise of a Repair Technician AND a Verification Officer. Two qualified Technicians per call out instead of the current one. There are also significant administrative requirements for Repairers, similar to what we now have for Verifications. All this adds up to significant increases in costs for us and our clients. We are working on several initiatives to try and keep costs down and will discuss these with each customer over the next year.
- Penalties for non-compliance.
The new Regulations have dramatically increased the powers of NRCS in ensuring compliance. They now have far ranging powers and below are just some of the penalties which can be implemented;
- Seizure of equipment
- Destruction of equipment
- Returning product to country of origin at owners cost
- Prison terms
We urge all clients to familiarise themselves with the terms of the new Regulations as soon as possible as there are some fundamental changes which will affect almost every industry. As we find out more information or receive clarity from NRCS we will keep you informed.
