§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if it is his policy to make it a criminal offence after 1 January 2000 for butchers and greengrocers to sell loose goods using imperial measures; and if he will make a statement. [91076]
§ Dr. HowellsThe Weights and Measures Act 1985 prohibits the use, for trade, of units of measurement other than those defined and authorised by the Act. The Act was amended in 1994 to authorise metric units only for the sale of loose goods by weight after 31 December 1999. Imperial units are authorised after that date only as optional supplementary indications of quantity and price, alongside the mandatory primary indications in metric units.