Abstract
The meaning of ‘trade’, i.e. transferring or rendering of money's worth in consideration of money, the entitlement of the purchaser of goods to receive true weight and just measure and consideration of the importance of quantity control to the packer are discussed. The legal responsibilities of packers of merchandise, historical and contemporary, are explained and the questions of whether the Weights and Measures Act 1963 oppresses the packer who appreciates the fundamentals of business economics, requires higher standards of quantitative accuracy than heretofore, and favours the consumer at the expense of the packer and/or the distributor are considered.
The performance factors of automatic weighing and measuring devices, measuring to determine weight and vice versa, weight representation dependent on the count per unit mass, checkweighing and the fundamentals of dependency are all discussed. The role of the Inspector of Weights and Measures with reference to the mechanics of commodity quantitative control is discussed: where to check, how often, and to what extent. Valuation is made of the results of checking. Consideration is also given to the liabilities of, and defences available to, traders and whether or not deficiency tolerances should be laid down.
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