Version No. 012

Trade Measurement Regulations 1995

S.R. No. 194/1995

Version incorporating amendments as at 29 November 2005

table of provisions

Regulation Page

v

Regulation Page

PART 1—PRELIMINARY 1

1. Title 1

2. Commencement 1

3. Objective 1

4. Authorising provisions 2

5. Revocation 2

6. Definitions 2

PART 2—WEIGHBRIDGES 7

Division 1—Preliminary 7

7. Application of other regulations to weighbridges 7

Division 2—Requirements for Weighbridge used for Trade 7

8. Application of Part 7

9. Situation of weighbridge 7

10. Visibility on weighbridge 7

11. Approaches to weighbridge 8

12. Platforms of weighbridge 8

13. Pit of weighbridge 9

14. Weighbridge without pit 9

15. Weighbridge with electronic devices 10

16. Multi-platform weighbridge 10

17. Portable weighbridge 10

Division 3—Certificates of Suitability (Public Weighbridges) 11

18. Issue of certificate of suitability 11

19. Duration of certificate of suitability 11

20. Duplicate certificate of suitability 12

21. Suspension or cancellation of certificate of suitability 12

22. Return of cancelled certificate 13

23. Register of certified weighbridges 14

Division 4—Public Weighbridge—Licensees and Operators 14

24. Condition of licence 14

25. Sign and certificate to be exhibited 14

26. Tare books and measurement tickets 15

27. General duties of licensee 16

28. Duties of operator 17

29. Notification by licensee of change of particulars 17

30. Vehicle registration weighing—exemption from licensing etc. 17

31. Register of licences 18

Division 5—End-and-End Weighing 18

32. Restrictions 18

Division 6—Miscellaneous 19

32A. Fraudulent activities of licensee or operator 19

PART 3—MEASURING INSTRUMENTS 21

Division 1—Verification, Re-Verification and Certification 21

33. Marking of measuring instrument 21

34. Certain measuring instruments not to be verified or certified 21

35. Measuring instrument to be clean 22

36. Testing of measuring instrument 22

37. Testing and marking of measure of length 22

38. Exemption from re-verification and marking 23

39. Restrictions on use for trade of certain small masses 23

40. Dismantling of measuring instrument for testing 23

41. Owner to provide and pay for labour etc. 24

Division 2—Batch Testing and Marking 25

42. Approval for batch testing of glass measures 25

43. Approval authorises making of marks 25

44. Restrictions on removal of marked glass measure 26

45. Batch testing requirements 26

46. Records to be kept and made available 27

Division 3—Licences and Licensees 27

47. Condition of licence 27

48. Licensee to keep certain records or give certain notices 27

49. Notification by licensee of changed particulars 28

50. Register of servicing licences 28

Division 4—Miscellaneous 29

51. Restrictions on use of measuring instrument for trade 29

52. Subdivision of scale spacing 31

53. Measurement of liquid 31

54. Measurement of precious stones 32

55. Measurement of precious metals 32

56. Offence of using instrument for trade when prohibited 33

PART 4—PRE-PACKED ARTICLES 34

Division 1—Preliminary 34

57. Exemptions from marking requirements (name, address, measurement) 34

58. Exemptions for packages containing paper 35

59. Requirements applicable to both inner and outer packages 35

60. Exemptions for certain inner and outer packages 36

Division 2—Marking of Name and Address 36

61. Marking of name and address on packages 36

62. Exemption for packaged seed 36

Division 3—Marking of Measurement 37

Sub-division 1—General requirements for measurement marking 37

63. Requirement to mark measurement 37

64. General position of measurement marking 37

65. Set-out and form of measurement marking 38

66. Size etc. of characters in measurement marking 39

67. Unit etc. of measurement to be used 40

68. Fractions, significant figures 41

69. Special provision—marking by approved printing device 42

70. Marking by reference to minimum measurement 42

Sub-division 2—Special provision for measurement marking of
certain articles 43

71. Eggs 43

72. Articles packed in sheets 43

73. Number of pre-packed articles comprising 1 tonne 43

74. Bed sheets, tarpaulins etc. 43

75. Pairs of window curtains 44

76. Marking of width or thickness if it directly affects price 44

Sub-division 3—Special provision concerning measurement
marking of outer packages 44

77. Package containing packages of articles of the same kind and measurement 44

78. Inner and outer packages of single article 45

79. Package containing articles of different kinds or different measurements 46

Sub-division 4—Other markings concerning measurement 46

80. Unit price marking—retail sales of certain foods by mass 46

Division 4—Prohibited and Restricted Expressions 48

81. Marking of "mass when packed" 48

82. Marking of "mass at standard condition" 49

83. Restrictions on use of "gross mass" 49

84. Prohibited expressions 50

Division 5—Short Measure 50

85. Extent of deficiency necessary to constitute short measure 50

86. Articles marked "mass when packed" etc. 51

87. Articles marked "mass at standard condition" 52

88. Other pre-packed articles 53

89. Method of determining average measurement 54

Division 6—Miscellaneous 54

90. Mass of frozen pre-packed scallops 54

91. Application for permit to sell certain articles 55

PART 5—MISCELLANEOUS 56

Division 1—Articles Sold by Reference to Measurement 56

92. Beer, spirits to be sold by volume 56

93. Offer etc. for sale by reference to measurement 56

Division 2—Sale of fuel by reference to measurement by volume 58

93A. Regulation of sale of fuel by reference to measurement by volume 58

PART 6—ADMINISTRATION 62

Division 1—Prescribed Fees and Offences 62

94. Revoked 62

95. Fees payable by licensee in respect of certification 62

96. Other fees and charges 62

97. Prescribed Offences and penalties 62

98. Form of infringement notice 63

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SCHEDULES 64

SCHEDULE 1—Duties of operator of public weighbridge 64

SCHEDULE 2—Forms of tare mass book 68

SCHEDULE 3—Forms of measurement tickets 69

SCHEDULE 4—Exemptions from marking 73

SCHEDULE 5—Expression of measurement marking 76

SCHEDULE 6—Permissible units of measurement 78

SCHEDULE 7—Certification fees 80

SCHEDULE 8—Other fees and charges 81

SCHEDULE 9—Prescribed offences and penalties 82

SCHEDULE 10—Infringement notice 87

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endNOTES 88

1. General Information 88

2. Table of Amendments 89

3. Explanatory Details 90

v

Version No. 012

Trade Measurement Regulations 1995

S.R. No. 194/1995

Version incorporating amendments as at 29 November 2005

2

Part 1—Preliminary

Trade Measurement Regulations 1995

S.R. No. 194/1995

Part 1—Preliminary

1. Title

These Regulations may be cited as the Trade Measurement Regulations 1995.

2. Commencement

These Regulations come into operation on 1January 1996.

3. Objective

The objective of these Regulations is to—

(a) provide special requirements for weighbridges used for trade, certificates of suitability for public weighbridges, the duties of licensees and operators of public weighbridges and restrictions on the use of weighbridges for end-and-end weighing;

(b) provide the procedure for the verification, reverification, certification and batch testing of measuring instruments, the restrictions on the use of measuring instruments and the miscellaneous duties of servicing licensees;

(c) provide specific information to be marked on pre-packed articles, the prohibition and restrictions of specific expressions on pre-packed articles and permissible measurement deficiencies in pre-packed articles and pre-packed goods exempted from markings;

(d) require beer and certain other alcoholic beverages to be sold at a price determined by reference to volume and provide the measurements to be used when articles are sold by reference to mass, volume, linear measurement or superficial measurement;

(e) provide certification, licensing and other fees and infringement notices for prescribed offences.

4. Authorising provisions

r. 4

These Regulations are made under sections 6, 7, 15, 16, 20, 22, 26, 28, 30, 33, 43, 44, 47, 49, 50, 52, and 80 of the Trade Measurement Act 1995 and sections 10, 11, 18, 21 and 25 of the Trade Measurement (Administration) Act 1995.

5. Revocation

The Weights and Measures Regulations 1994, are revoked.

6. Definitions

In these Regulations—

"approval" means an approval given under regulation 42;

"approved" means approved by the administering authority;

"approved printing device" means a printing device that conforms to a pattern in relation to which there is in force under the National Measurement (Patterns of Instruments) Regulations of the Commonwealth a certificate that approves the use of the device for trade;

"certificate of suitability" in relation to a weighbridge, means a certificate issued by the administering authority for the purposes of section 50(1)(a) of the Act to the effect that the weighbridge is suitable for use as a public weighbridge;

"characters" includes letters, figures and symbols;

"cheese" and "cheese products" do not include articles for sale as processed cheese or cheese spreads;

"compressed or liquefied gas" does not include liquefied petroleum gas;

"cream" does not include clotted cream or sour (cultured) cream;

r. 6

"dried or dehydrated fruit" includes glace and crystallised fruit and fruit peel;

"dried or dehydrated mixed fruit" includes any such fruit mixed with nuts;

"end-and-end measurement" means the determination of a measurement relating to a vehicle (whether loaded or not) by adding together separate measurements of the mass supported singly or in combination by the different axles of the vehicle, those separate measurements having been determined by separate operations of a weighbridge;

"garden landscape material" means soil, pebbles, crushed tile, crushed white quartz, Grawin gravel, crushed western red, crushed snowflake, New Zealand lava scoria, Pacific coral, river stones, crushed material mix and any like substance for use in gardens;

"glass" in relation to a container or drinking vessel, includes any other material permitted by the approval for its pattern issued under the National Measurement Regulations of the Commonwealth;

Reg. 6 def. of "glass measure" amended by S.R. No. 53/2002 reg.5.

"glass measure" means—

(a) a container made wholly or principally of glass in which it is intended that lubricating oil will be sold by volume of the quantity (otherwise than as a prepacked article); or

(b) a measure made of glass or other rigid or semi-rigid substance intended for use for the sale of beer, ale, stout or spirits by quantity other than as a pre-packed article;

"ice cream" includes any form of frozen confection containing ice cream, flavoured ice, fruit-ice, water-ice or a substitute for ice cream;

r. 6

"liquid chemicals" includes solvents packed for sale for pharmaceutical, laboratory or industrial use;

"main display part" in relation to a package, means—

(a) if the name or brand appears on the package once only the part of the package on which it appears; or

(b) if the name or brand appears on more than one part of the package with equal prominence in each case—any one of those parts; or

(c) if the name or brand appears on more than one part of the package but not always with equal prominence—the part of the package on which it is more prominent or any part of the package on which it is most prominent; or

(d) if the name or brand of the article in the package does not appear on the package—that part of the package which will be most prominent when the package is exposed for sale in the manner in which it is likely to be exposed for sale;

"measurement marking" means the marking of measurement required by these Regulations to be made on the package containing a prepacked article;

r. 6

"operator" means the person who personally determines a measurement by use of a weighbridge;

"owner" in relation to a measuring instrument, means the person who uses, or proposes to use, the measuring instrument for trade or who proposes to make it available for use for trade;

"paint" includes enamel but does not include a two-pack paint, artists' paint or powder coatings;

"poultry" means any kind of bird used for human consumption, whether it is cooked or uncooked or consists of poultry pieces;

"poultry piece" means leg, wing, breast or other part detached from a poultry carcass and any division of a poultry carcass;

"public weighing" means the use of a weighbridge by or on behalf of the public or for which a charge is made;

"resins" includes natural resins, synthetic resins and polymeric materials other than paint;

"testing facilities" means labour and equipment necessary for testing glass measures in accordance with regulation 45;

"the Act" means the Trade Measurement Act 1995;

"therapeutic goods" means goods for therapeutic use within the meaning of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 of the Commonwealth as amended and in force for the time being;

"tobacco" includes plug tobacco.

r. 6

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Part 2—Weighbridges

Division 1—Preliminary

7. Application of other regulations to weighbridges

r. 7

These Regulations have effect in addition to, and do not derogate from, any other regulations under the Act relating to measuring instruments generally.

Division 2—Requirements for Weighbridge used for Trade

8. Application of Part

This Part applies to weighbridges used for trade (including public weighbridges).

9. Situation of weighbridge

A weighbridge must be so situated that—

(a) there is sufficient room for a vehicle using the weighbridge to move on and off without turning on the platforms;

(b) its headwork is protected from wind and rain by an office or other adequate means; and

(c) water or debris from the surrounding area does not accumulate on the platforms or in the pit.

10. Visibility on weighbridge

A weighbridge must—

(a) provide the operator with a clear view of the platforms;

(b) have the indicator that is used by the operator located not more than 6 metres from the edge of the platforms or in some other approved position; and

(c) in the case of a road weighbridge, have an indicator in such a position that the mass displayed on it may easily be read by the driver of a vehicle using the weighbridge.

11. Approaches to weighbridge

r. 11

A weighbridge must have approaches that—

(a) are in the same plane as the platforms for a minimum distance of—

(i) 3 metres if the length of the platforms is less than 18 metres; or

(ii) 1 metre if the length of the platforms is 18 metres or more;

(b) have a hard, true and durable surface of concrete or other approved material; and

(c) are arranged so that drainage from the surface does not flow into the pit.

12. Platforms of weighbridge

(1) The platforms of a weighbridge must be of concrete or steel, or both, or be of other approved materials.