The annual S70 Returns from local weights and measures authorities

The NMO have published this years returns from all local weights and measures authorities. In the present financial climate it is positive to see that there is still some work going on although at levels that would not lead to proper market regulation.

 

The NMO S70 report

Proposal to align nine directives with the New Legislative Framework- More details

I have produced some more details on the potential changes that this review may bring. It is important to remember that changes will have no material effect on the essential requirements to either the NAWI Directive or the MI Directive. The changes will have an important influence on the responsibilities of economic operators to ensure that the instruments they supply meet all legal requirements.In particular there are two new groups of business, importers and distributors. These will be new responsibilities that these businesses must comply with.

 

Further information on the update of the NAWI and the MID

Updates from the recent CECIP meeting

I have a attended a recent CECIP meeting and felt that the following points are important for you to be aware of.

1) The matter of 10v per metre continues to progress. The EU commission have completed the note that they intend to publish with regard to this. It reflects our expectation that instruments will need to meet the requirement of  10v/m for radiated immunity and 10v for conducted immunity where this is applicable. The continued advice to members is that they should ensure that the instruments that they place on the market must meet this requirements by the 1st January 2014.

2) WELMEC are presently reviewing the definition of ” manufacturer” as outlined in the MID and as used in the NAWI Directive. Some of the WELMEC members feel that the manufacturer should be the owner of the type approval document. This definition is very different to the one used in the UK and if accepted would have great bearing on many small businesses who verify weighing equipment but are not the owners of the type approval. We have made our views known to both CECIP and the UK Government who both support our position. As soon as I have any more information I will update you

In the meantime please do  to hesitate to give me a call if you would like to disuse these matters further

Proposal to Align Nine Directives with the New Legislative Framework

The consultation to align the nine directives includes the NAWI Directive and the MID so may well have a bearing on manufactures and suppliers of both automatic and non-automatic weighing instruments. It is important to note that these changes will not effect the essential requirements of the directives but are aimed at producing a greater consistency with regard to the different procedures and processes that have tended to develop. It introduces a new notion of a business called a “distributor” and creates an obligation on these businesses to ensure that products that they supply meet the appropriate legal requirements. I am at present completing a more detailed review and will pass these on as soon as they are completed. In the meantime please give me a call if you would like to discuss this any further

Consultation on the New Legislative Framework

Government response to the review of regulatory enforcement

The coalition government have published the response to this consultation earlier in the year. It contains no obvious surprises and largely reflects the present view that regulation represents an unnecessary burden on business and its removal  or “light touch” implementation will be of benefit to all. It does at least recognise the view that such a route will lead to non-complaint businesses having an economic advantage over those businesses that bear the full cost of compliance. The route of “light touch” will lead those difficult to regulate businesses gaining a greater and greater foothold in the market the expense of legitimate businesses. If you would like more information on this or other government businesses please give me a call]

 

Transforming Regulatory Enforcement_Government Response

Final Draft of EN45501

The final draft of the EN45501 is now available for review. It should be noted that the procedure is now at the point of acceptance or rejection and it is not possible to amend the standard. The process has been put on “fast track” and it is expected that the vote will close at the end of April 2012, and it hoped that the standard will be published around July 2012. At the moment it is expected that both standards will be effective until 31st December 2013

Final Draft of EN45501

Report on the WELMEC Software Conference

There is brief report on the recent WELMEC software workshop and the following meeting. It was an interesting meeting with many of the important issues that we will face in the future. The important points for the industry are are the possible incorporation of the WELMEC 2.3 guide and the WELMEC 7.2 Guide and a discussion on the value of risk class B for software, in particular in relation to automatic weighing instruments

Brief report on the WG7 conference and workshop

New edition of the NMO news

Please see the latest edition of the NMO news available on their website. This includes an interesting update on the 46th OIML meeting from Prague

Link to the NMO News

 

Report on the Market Surveillance Conference-24th November 2011

I have recently attended a conference on market surveillance organised by the European Commission. This was a useful meeting that illustrated that the problems that all market sectors are facing as a result of the weak market surveillance infrastructure.  The report for this can be found on the first link

There are also a series of interesting video presentations from the conference that can be found from the link on the second link

Report on the market surveillance conference

Video presentations from the market surveillance conference

 

 

Important note on the transition from 3v to 10v for EMC Immunity

I have attended the recent Measuring Instruments Committee on the 25th November. One of the major discussions was the transition period from the immunity level of 3v/m to 10v/m. It is likely that the transition period will end on the 31st December 2013. After that date all weighing instruments will need to comply with the 10v/m immunity level if they are to be supplied in the EU. I strongly advise you to begin the process of ensuring compliance as soon as possible. If you would like to discuss this matter further please do not hesitate to contact me

 

important note on the 10v/m transition period