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Metric Culprits |
The Retailer's
Survival Guide to Metric Law
The Legal
Situation
On 18 February
2002, the divisional court in London ruled that the sale of loose foods in
pounds and ounces is illegal. This is despite the existence of the 1985 Weights
and Measures Act that allows retailers to use lb/oz and other traditional UK
units. This judgement is based on an interpretation of the 1972 European
Communities which allows it (the 1972 Act) to override future Acts of
Parliament in order to implement EC directives.
BWMA does not
believe that this ruling is lawful, and is seeking to have it revoked. In the
meantime, there still exist ways of legally using UK customary units on
packaged and loose foods and goods. Here is a summary:
Type of
Product |
Purpose and typical
location of label |
Relationship to
metric |
Authority |
|
|
|
|
Packaged
foods and consumable goods (eg shampoo, perfume, biscuits,
cereal) |
To
indicate quantity on the packaging |
As
"supplementary indications" (ie additional to metric) |
1994
Units of Measurement Regulations |
|
|
|
|
Loose
foods and goods (eg carpet, fruit & vegetables) |
To show
the unit price |
As
"supplementary indications" (ie additional to metric) |
1994
Units of Measurement Regulations |
|
|
|
|
All foods
and goods |
To show
the unit price for advertising purposes (ie on posters, stickers and other
promotional materials) |
Can be
used without metric NB Metric must
still be displayed on non-advertising materials |
Price
Marking Order 1999 |
|
|
|
|
Single item
non-food goods (eg furniture, rugs, kitchen appliances)
|
To describe
dimensions |
Can be used without
metric |
Not covered by
regulations |
As can be seen from the table,
there are two main legal authorities for displaying
lb/oz:
1) The Price Marking Order - for Advertising
Purposes
The Price Marking
Order differentiates between the use of unit pricing for contract purposes (ie
price indications on labels and till receipts) and advertising. In other words,
while metric unit pricing must be used for contracts but no such requirement
exists for advertising and promotional uses.
Tesco have made use
of this distinction by displaying the price per pound on posters, leaflets, and
price stickers on packages. On the wrapper below, a prominent circular sticker
gives the price per pound only. This is a promotional device and therefore
exempt from the 1994 regulations.
BWMA regards
Tesco's view of the law as entirely reasonable and in the interests of
consumers. However, trading standards in Hertfordshire are known to disagree.
As yet, Hertfordshire trading standards have taken no action against
Tesco.
Sainsburys has also
adopted this practice, as illustrated by the two stickers below featured on a
pack of fresh pork: to the left is the formal price indication (£2.20 at
£4.39/kg); to the right is the promotional sticker showing the equivalent
price per pound, £1.99.
2) Supplementary Indications
Although EC
directive 80/181, implemented into UK law by the regulations, requires that
metric be used for all economic purposes, people are still "permitted" (to use
the EC's term) to show "supplementary indications"; in other words, non-metric
equivalents. UK regulations state that imperial indications must be expressed,
"in characters no larger than those of the metric indication". This wording
suggests that imperial may be as large as the metric. Moreover, BWMA
believes there are ways of presenting imperial units prominently without
exceeding on the letter of the purported law:
|
|
i) Make imperial/customary units AS LARGE AS
metric units |
 |
|
|
ii) Place imperial units TO THE LEFT of metric This
means that people can read the imperial first, since people read from left to
right. BWMA does not believe that this contravenes the letter of the law, since
placing imperial to the left does not make metric less prominent, so long as
both labels face the reader squarely. |
 |
|
|
iii) Place imperial units TO THE RIGHT of
metric on a CIRCULAR LABELOn
a circular label, the consumer's eye naturally goes to the bottom and then
starts reading to the right. This makes it easier to read the lb/oz indication
first and ignore the metric. The effect can be emphasied even more if the "8oz"
commences from exactly the six o-clock position. BWMA does not believe this
impinges on the law, since the metric is as visible and as large as the
imperial. |
 |
v) Abbreviate the metric, spell imperial out
in full This does not, in BWMA's view, impinge on the issue of
prominence since the meaning of "100ml" on a food packet is the same as "100
millilitres". It is neither clearer nor less clear. |
 |
|
|
iv) Use UPPER CASE for imperial, LOWER CASE
for metric The above effect
can be emphasised by putting the imperial indication in upper case. Again, this
need not affect prominence, since the same font size is used for both, and
changing case does not affect the meaning of a word or its clarity. It could be
argued THAT UPPER CASE IS HARDER TO READ THAN LOWER CASE. |
 |
vi) Use RATIONAL sizes for imperial, and
IRRATIONAL sizes for metric Tried and tested, and totally within the regulations, since it
does not relate to the labelling design. There is no better way to promote
customary units than by using customary quantities. |
|
vii) Emphasis the above effect by putting
metric to three decimal places. Another old favourite.
This cannot be said to undermine metric, since one of metric's much hyped-up
benefits is that it is (allegedly) "more accurate". A producer can therefore
make the most of metric by putting it to three, or even four, decimal places.
|
|
viii) Wrap the metric around the packaging.
Print the metric on the top of the label and imperial
underneath. Metric cannot be said to be less prominent; on the contrary, if one
looks at the product from the top, only metric is
visible. |
|
Use "lead-ins" These are used by Somerfield
and other retailers to lead the consumer from the metric to the imperial, for
instance:
Bananas 55p/kg - equivalent to
just 25p/pound |
454g Marmalade - that's 1 lb to
you and me! |
|
|
Don't state the imperial unit by
name Sainsburys use this technique with their milk: a one-pint carton
displays a prominent "1", a two-pint shows a prominent "2", and so forth. Even
though these numbers are much larger than the metric, the labels do not break
the metric regulations since they do not refer to the pint unit; they are
simply prominent numbers. |
 |
|
|
Make use of Colour This is another technique used by
Sainsburys to promote lb/oz while remaining within the letter of the
regulations. In the (reconstructed) sign below, the price per pound complies
with regulations in the usual way. However, it is located just under the
product name and on a background of the same
colour. Thus, while technically "less prominent", it is immediately more
identifiable as relating to the product. It could, of course, be argued that
the price per kilo is more prominent as it is on a eye-catching red
background.
only 49p
per
kg |
Loose Carrots
|
|
22p per lb |
|