HC Deb 19 October 1999 vol 336 cc451-2W
Mr. Chidgey

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the inspection, compliance and enforcement costs of converting to dual metric and imperial units for goods sold loose from bulk. [94433]

Dr. Howells

The cost of converting an existing weighing machine to operate in metric and imperial units would be between £60 and £145. The cost of buying a new machine in metric and imperial units would start at £450, depending on the model ordered.

The cost of indicating prices in metric and imperial units would be relatively low where price tickets are printed by computer, but would be more expensive where price tickets are prepared manually. There may be a relatively small increase in the cost of inspection and enforcement because of the need to check the accuracy of weighing machines and price indications in both metric and imperial units.

Mr. Chidgey

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of ending the exclusive use of imperial units for loose goods after 31 December on the retail trade, with regard to(a) the number of traders affected, (b) the average cost of conversion to metric plus imperial systems and (c) the total cost to the retail sector. [94432]

Dr. Howells

The compliance cost assessment published by the Department of Trade and Industry when the metrication legislation was laid before Parliament in 1994 estimated that about 62,000 traders would be affected. The overall business costs were estimated to be about £33 million, of which about £30 million was identified as the conversion or replacement of an estimated 200,000 weighing machines. The assessment did not apportion the costs between the metric changes in 1995 and the change to loose goods by the end of 1999. The UK Weighing Federation estimated that, at the beginning of 1999, only 95,000 weighing machines were still to be converted or replaced. According to the Federation, about 76,000 machines could be converted and the remaining 19,000 would have to be replaced.