Government of Jersey

Information about the publication of Ministerial Decisions

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demonstrating that good governance, and clear lines of accountability and authority, are in place around decisions-making – including the reasons and basis on which a decision is made, and the action required to implement a decision
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A decision made 5 April 2012:

Decision Reference: MD-E-2012-0042
Decision Summary Title :	DS – Weights and Measures (Jersey) Law 1967 – Deregulation and Amendments		Date of Decision Summary:	3 April 2012
Decision Summary Author:	Director of Trading Standards		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Weights and Measures (Jersey) Law 1967 – Deregulation and Amendments		Date of Written Report:	28th March 2012
Written Report Author:	Director of Trading Standards		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Weights and Measures (Jersey) Law 1967 – Deregulation and Amendments.
Decision(s): The Minister – (a) agreed that the Weights and Measures (Jersey) Law 1967 and various Prescribed Quantity Orders should be amended to address the various issues highlighted in the appended report; and (b) authorised the Director of Trading Standards to submit the necessary instructions to the Law Draftsman.
Reason(s) for Decision: It is important that Jersey Trading Standards legislation is reviewed in light of changes made to United Kingdom law especially when those changes are based on a European Union (EU) Directive. The proposed deregulation and amendments will ensure that there is no possibility that goods in free movement throughout the EU and imported into Jersey will be in breach of Jersey Weights and Measures Law.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications as a result of this decision
Action required: The Director of Trading Standards to submit appropriate drafting instructions to the Law Draftsman.
Signature: Senator AJH Maclean		Position: Minister for Economic Development
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Weights and Measures (Jersey) Law 1967 - Deregulation and Amendments

Report to Economic Development Minister

Weights and Measures (Jersey) Law 1967

Deregulation and Amendments

1. Deregulation of Prescribed Quantities for Certain Foods

Background

Legislation in this area is aimed at protecting consumers from short weight or measure and ensuring that they have adequate information on quantity to enable them to make informed purchasing decisions. Prescribed quantities (also called specified quantities) are the fixed sizes that certain goods must currently be sold in and were introduced many years ago as a measure intended to protect consumers from confusion when being faced with many different sizes of the same product. When making price comparisons to obtain best value for money it was beneficial to consumers to be able to easily compare, for example, different butters or margarines knowing that the quantities packed were all the same. Since this legislation was made there have been improvements to consumer protection in related areas and significant changes in consumer behaviour and demand.

The Need for Deregulation

For some years the European Union has been working towards creating a single market to enable easier cross border trade in goods and services. In 2007 the EU published Council Directive 2007/45/EC which lays down rules on nominal quantities for pre-packaged foods. This removed the requirement for prescribed quantities for some 30 types of pre-packaged food and maintained them permanently only in relation to wines and spirits. The United Kingdom (UK) has now enacted legislation to comply with the Directive and to ensure that Jersey is not in breach of the provisions of Protocol 3 similar deregulation of prescribed quantities must take place. To achieve this, amendments to the Weights and Measures (Jersey) Law 1967 and various Prescribed Quantity Orders must be made and these can be carried out relatively simply by Ministerial Order using powers in the Law.

It is important to note that the removal of the requirements to pack in prescribed quantities does not preclude the continued use of those sizes in which products have traditionally been packed. Although the deregulation means that relevant goods may now be packed to any size, packers and manufacturers are at liberty to continue packing their goods in existing pack sizes. As such, there is no requirement for business to adopt any new size or incur any additional costs.

Products Affected

The products currently required to be sold in prescribed quantities and therefore subject to deregulation are as follows:

Barley kernels, pearl barley, rice, sago semolina and tapioca
Biscuits other than wafer biscuits which are not cream filled
Bread (pre-packed) in the form of a whole loaf
Cereal breakfast foods in flake form
Chocolate products
Cocoa products
Coffee, coffee mixtures and coffee bags
Coffee extracts and chicory extracts
Dried fruits
Dried vegetables
Edible fats in solid form (including butter, margarine and low fat spreads)
Flour
Honey
Jam and Marmalade
Jelly preserves
Molasses, syrup and treacle
Oat products, namely flour of oats, oat flakes and oatmeal
Pasta
Potatoes
Salt
Sugar
Solid Fuel
Tea and tea bags

2. Sale of Intoxicating Liquor – Proposed amendments

Draft beer and cider

Sales of draft beer and cider must currently be made in capacity measures of either 1/3rd pint ½ pint or multiples of ½ pint. The UK has now introduced a new legal size of 2/3rd pint. A consultation was carried out with the local trade and it has been established that there is a wish to introduce this size as an option in Jersey. To enable this, an amendment is required to Schedule 2 and 3 of the Weights and Measures Law.

Capacity Measures for dispensing Spirits

The Law requires prescribed spirits (whiskey, gin, rum, vodka, brandy and cognac) dispensed from bottles on licensed premises to be sold in quantities of 25 millilitres or multiples of that quantity. A licensee may do this via stamped sealed measuring instruments (known as optics) or by the use of stamped capacity measures (known as thimble measures) designated 25 millilitres or 50 millilitres. The Law currently requires these measures to be made only of glass or transparent plastic. This restriction does not exist in the UK or Guernsey and following consultation with the trade it is proposed to remove this restriction to enable licensees to use approved stainless steel measures. This should help reduce costs to businesses by permitting the use of widely available measuring equipment.

Fortified Wine (Port, Sherry, Vermouth etc)

At present, the sale of non pre-packed fortified wine in licensed premises is not controlled although widespread trade practice is that sales are carried out in quantities of 50 millilitres or multiples of that quantity. In consultation, the local trade supported the introduction of a legal quantity of 50 millilitres to ensure consistency across the trade and certainty for the consumer. This will in fact bring Jersey into line with Guernsey and the UK so it is proposed that the necessary amendments are made to the Law.

Wine by the glass

When sold on licensed premises in a glass from which it is intended to be drunk, wine must be dispensed in quantities of either 125 millilitres or 175 millilitres or multiples of either quantity. The UK has now introduced an exemption which affects servings below 75 millilitres to allow for innovation in the sale of small glasses of wine as samples or as part of a wine flight. As support for a similar change in Jersey has been expressed by the local trade it is proposed that the necessary amendments are made to the Law to effect a similar exemption.

3 Unwrapped Bread

As mentioned in section 1 of this report, there is an obligation to deregulate prescribed quantities in line with Directive 2007/45/EC so those in place for bread will also have to be removed. Pre-packed bread is currently imported into Jersey from the UK and in future it may come in varying weights of loaf and these will have to be allowed free movement into the Island.

Unlike the UK, Jersey law does not differentiate between pre-packed and unwrapped bread loaves. With the removal of prescribed quantities for pre-packed bread it would be inconsistent to retain prescribed quantities for unwrapped bread. However, as unwrapped loaves obviously do not have any weight indication there would need to be in place some requirement for retailers to indicate the weight of non-standard loaves if these became available. (i.e. not 400 or 800 grams) This is in fact what the UK has introduced into its Weights and Measures Law so it is proposed that similar amendments are introduced into Jersey law.

4 Recommendation

It is recommended that the Minister authorises the Director of Trading Standards to instruct the Law Draftsman to produce an appropriate Order to be laid before the States in due course.

Resource Implications

There are no financial or manpower implications as a result of this decision.

Director, Trading Standards

28th March 2012