Submission - John Birch

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 terms customer 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 Australias 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 approach for legal metrology- Fit for purpose

Fit for purposecan 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 Handling Co-ordination Association made the point

the issue of certification has been helped enormously by the involvement of OIML.Sadly, the OIML was not consulted 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.The introduction of time of usage tariffs and smart meters provides the opportunity for consumers to adjust their usage to take account of market prices. However, this will 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 the mechanisms for alerting consumers to tariff changes.

The workshop also expressed its support for greater market surveillance.

Legal Metrology Contribution to Public Policy

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.