Metrication

HC Deb 11 February 1972 vol 830 cc471-3W

Mr. Skeet

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will show in two lists the countries of the Commonwealth which have metricated and those which have not.

Mr. Redmond

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish a supplement to the White Paper on metrication giving a list of those Commonwealth and former Commonwealth countries which have recently adopted, or are in process of adopting, the metric system.

Mr. Ridely

The following is the informationCountries now using the metric system exclusively: India

Countries now largely using the metric system:
Cyprus	Mauritius
Malta
Countries and territories known to be now in the course of changing:
Australia	Malawi
Botswana	Malaysia
Canada	New Zealand
Ceylon	Nigeria
Fiji	Singapore
Ghana	Swaziland
Guyana	Tanzania
Hong Kong	Uganda
Kenya	Zambia
Lesotho
Countries and territories not yet changing (though some are known to be planning to do so):
Antigua	Montserrat
Bahamas	Nauru
Barbados	St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla
Bermuda
Dominica	St. Lucia
The Gambia	St. Vincent
Grenada	Sierra Leone
Jamaica	Tonga

Mr. Redmond

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if, when framing legislation arising from the White Paper on metrication, he will include a requirement that scales and other measuring instruments used by retailers selling loose goods by metric measures will have dual calibrations or, in cases where this is impossible, a requirement that such establishments must display a large, approved chart showing metric and imperial equivalents.

Mr. Ridley

I shall certainly be taking into account my hon. Friend's suggestion in considering ways of protecting the consumer.

Mr. Redmond

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to ensure that members of the public who feel aggrieved by any change to the metric system by retailers can appeal to a special protection organisation, and to ensure that every retail establishment using the metric system displays full information, in an approved form, as to how contact can be made with this organisation.

Mr. Ridley

As promised in the White Paper, we shall be considering what are the best practical steps to enable the shopper to compare values in imperial and metric quantities. We will certainly give serious thought to my hon. Friend's suggestion.