LEGAL METROLOGY REVIEW
Discussion Paper
Submission by John Birch AM, Memb de Hon CIML
Executive Director National Standards Commission 1986-2000
International Legal Metrology Consultant
Pol1cy Objectives for Legal Metrology in Australia
I agree with the objectives in the paper but would suggest
Adding
- On line 3 add “ and integrity” after “Supporting confidence”
- On line 4 after disputation add “fraud”
- On line 9 Adding after “Consumer”
( or the broader termscustomer and community)
Whilst customer is appropriate for trade transactions
For regulatory measurements the community is at
Risk from non-compliance to requirements e.g. road safety,
Environmental pollution
- Add a fifth dot point ‘ ensuring the full economic benefit
is obtained for measurements
- Line 14 add after businesses “ consumers and community”
- International trade in commodities is now dominated by pre-packaged good with the value of such goods in international trade far exceeding the value of bulk commodity exports.Europe has developed a e-mark to facilitate trade in Europe of pre-packaged goods but this can act as a technical barrier to trade. OIML should be supported in developing an
Internationally accepted I- mark
International co-operation and harmonisation
Australia should actively co-operate in the participation and
Development of international documentary standards relevant to
Legal metrology
This is of particular importance at the present time when Australia
has an active Free Trade Agreement Program. These bilateral and
multilateral agreements need to be based on international requirements
otherwise they create barriers to trade and complexity for industry in
meeting a multiplicity of requirements. The Productivity Commission
has stressed this particular difficulty.
ISO and IEC documentary standards are developed for efficient manufacture
And do not have the regulatory approach of legal metrology requirements.
To the extent they overlap, harmonisation is achieved by joint meetings
Of ISO/IEC and OIML Technical Committees, This has been particularly
case for utility meters.
OIML recommendations are international standards that facilitate trade
and should not be varied to allow for particular circumstances in Australia.
Having separate requirements for Australia duplicates requirements for
Business and is inefficient and non-competitive
Principle based approach to regulation
Key principles that should drive Australia’s regulatory approach to legal
Metrology are
- Certainty for business
- Economic efficiency
- Customer and community confidence
- Integrity of the system , particularly minimising fraud
- Maximising the economic benefit from the measurement system
Concerns of business in a principles-based regulatory environment?
A major concern would be lack of certainty about the requirements to be met
This can economically inefficient in developing new products.
Guidance material
Guidance material that explains the policy objectives and outcomes being sought, but such guidance should not qualify legislative requirements.
Risk based approach to compliance monitoring
- Level playing field for business in particular ensuring that competitors
are not obtaining a financial advantage from undetected non-compliance.
- Priority should also be determined on the economic impact of non- compliance
- The recent and continuing problem with Volkswagen non compliant motor vehicle emission measurement highlights the need for operational compliance to be audited
Regulatory approachfor legal metrology- Fit for purpose
“Fit for purpose”can often be inadequate’ this illustrated by the problems that arose from the practise of weighing shipping containers, inaccuracies in which resulted in major maritime disasters.After 50 years the shipping industry responded but developed requirements without consulting with OIML.A recent paper on this issue by Captain Richard Brough of the International Cargo HandlingCo-ordination Association made the point
“the issue of certification has been helped enormously by the involvement of OIML.Sadly, the OIML was notconsulted by IMO or any of the national governments or industry bodies in the build up to the adoption of the legislation.”
The requirements that were adopted have created significant difficulties for
Australian wine exporters.
Regulatory approaches for legal metrology
Priority should be determined by the level economic and social detriment
caused by non-compliance’
Inaccuracy that benefits that benefits the trader provides the trader with a competitive advantage and leads to market inefficiencies and distortion.
GENERAL COMMENTS
- Page 3 para three
After the first sentence add
“This results from multiple transactions for sale , freight, taxes as commodities move from point of initial production to final sale.”
- The Birch report on Economic and Social Benefits of Legal Metrology did not include the contribution of pre-packaged goods . this was dealt with in the following paper
Birch JA (2006) The Economic Importance of Legal Metrology in Pre-Packaging, presented at the OIML Seminar: Legal Metrology Aspects of Pre Packaging for International Trade, Capetown, South Africa 16 October 2006, published in OIML Bulletin Vol XLVIII,No 1, January 2007
- Consumer Concerns
ISO Consumer Policy Committee met in Fiji in May 2012 and
Included in their program was a workshop on” How do Consumers
Know what they are getting” specific areas of concern included
Electricity metering, particularly smart meters, pre-package quantity compliance and deceptive packaging.
John Birch representing OIML presented a paper on the ‘Role and Impact of Legal Metrology for Consumer protection” and there was significant interest in smart meters.On this topic Mr Birch made the following points
_“The deregulation of the electricity and gas industries is having a significant impact on consumers.Theintroduction of time of usage tariffs and smart meters provides the opportunity for consumers to adjust their usage to take account of market prices. However, thiswill be dependent on effective in-house meter displays and programs that inform and engage consumers. Legal metrology will generally have responsibility for approving smart meters and (sometimes) the time measurement and associated software but not themechanisms for alerting consumers to tariff changes.”
The workshop also expressed its support for greater market surveillance.
- Legal Metrology Contribution to PublicPolicy
Metrology systems were developed 5000 years ago to provide the State with the information it needed to organize plan defend and tax. Measurement can still add value to government policy making .Two areas in particular are road safety
particularly in developing countries and climate change.
Over the last decade a number of reports by WHO and the World Bank have highlighted the importance of road safety for developing countries. It is now estimated that unless action is taken, by 2030 road deaths could become the fourth leading cause of death in developing countries. Children 5 to 14 are most at risk with road accidents projected to be the leading cause of death for that group by 2015.
The application of radar speed devices and breathalysers can have a significant impact on driver behavior provided there is trust and confidence in the measurements
A major public policy issue facing governments around the world is climate change and whilst politicians see this as not only science based, but also a measurement based issue, metrologists have been only marginally involved in the development of public policy on the issue.
There is active debate on the future impacts of climate change and a greater involvement of metrologists could provide increased trust and confidence in the fitness of purpose of measurements of global temperature.