The Measuring Instruments Regulations 2016
2016 No. 1153
Weights And Measures
The Measuring Instruments Regulations 2016
Made 29th November 2016
Laid before Parliament 6th December 2016
Coming into force 28th December 2016
The Secretary of State is a Minister designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to, and for purposes ancillary to, the regulation of specifications, construction, placing on the market and use of articles, instruments, containers or other equipment intended for weighing, measuring or testing.
These Regulations make provision for a purpose mentioned in section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 and it appears to the Secretary of State that it is expedient for certain references to provisions of EU instruments to be construed as references to those provisions as amended from time to time.
The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of, and paragraph 1A3of Schedule 2 to that Act and, in relation to Part 6 of the Regulations (and any other provisions of these Regulations to the extent that they apply to, or give effect to, Part 6), in exercise of powers conferred by sections 15(1) and 86(1) of the Weights and Measures Act 19854.
PART 1
INTRODUCTORY
Citation, commencement and extent
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Measuring Instruments Regulations 2016.
(2) These Regulations come into force on 28th December 2016.
(3) These Regulations extend to Northern Ireland except Part 6.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the 1985 Act” means the Weights and Measures Act 1985;
“accreditation” bears the same meaning as in point 10 of Article 2 of RAMS;
“accreditation certificate” means a certificate, issued by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service or a national accreditation body in another EEA state, attesting that a conformity assessment body meets the notified body requirements;
“active electrical energy meter” means a device which measures the active electrical energy consumed in a circuit which is intended for residential, commercial or light industrial use;
“authorised representative” means any person established within the European Economic Area who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on the manufacturer’s behalf in relation to specified tasks;
“automatic weighing instrument” means an instrument that—
(a) determines the mass of a product without the intervention of an operator; and
(b) follows a predetermined programme of automatic processes characteristic of the instrument intended to determine the mass of a body by using the action of gravity on that body;
“automatic gravimetric filing instrument” means an automatic weighing instrument that fills containers with a predetermined and virtually constant mass of product from bulk;
“automatic catchweigher” means an automatic weighing instrument that determines the mass of pre-assembled discrete loads (for example pre-packages) or single loads of loose material;
“automatic checkweigher” means an automatic catchweigher which sub-divides articles of different mass into two or more sub-groups according to the value of the difference between their mass and the nominal set point;
“automatic discontinuous totaliser” means an automatic weighing instrument that—
(a) determines the mass of a bulk product by dividing the product into discrete loads;
(b) determines in sequence and sums the mass of each discrete load; and
(c) delivers each discrete load to bulk;
“automatic rail-weighbridge” means an automatic weighing instrument having a load receptor inclusive of rails for conveying railway vehicles;
“automatic weight grading instrument” means an instrument which sub-divides articles of different mass into several sub-groups, each characterised by a given mass range;
“beltweigher” means an automatic weighing instrument that continuously determines the mass of a bulk product on a conveyor belt without systematic subdivision of the product without interrupting the movement of the conveyor belt;
“capacity serving measure” means a capacity serving measure (such as a drinking glass, jug or thimble measure) designed to determine a specified volume of a liquid (other than a pharmaceutical product) which is sold for immediate consumption;
“CE marking” means a marking which takes the form set out in Annex II of RAMS;
“commencement date” means the date referred to in regulation 1(2);
“Commission” means the Commission of the European Union;
“competent authority” means any person who is pursuant to regulation 67 (enforcement of the Regulations), authorised to enforce these Regulations;
“compliance notice” means a notice served in accordance with regulation 68(2);
“conformity assessment” means the process demonstrating whether the essential requirements relating to a measuring instrument have been met;
“conformity assessment body” means a body that performs conformity assessment activities including calibration, testing, certification and inspection;
“dimensional measuring instrument” means—
(a) a length measuring instrument that serves for the determination of the length of rope type materials (for example textiles, bands, cables) during feed motion of the product to be measured;
(b) an area measuring instrument which serves for the determination of the area of irregular shaped objects, for example for leather; or
(c) a multi-dimensional measuring instrument which serves for the determination of the edge length (length, height, width) of the smallest enclosing rectangular parallelepiped of a product;
“the Directive” means Directive 2014/32/EUof the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of measuring instruments5and references to the Directive (or a specific provision of it) are references to the Directive (or that provision) as from time to time amended;
“disqualification mark” means a mark or sticker the design of which is published by the Secretary of State6and which may be affixed to a regulated measuring instrument in accordance with regulation 72 (disqualification);
“distributor” means any person in the supply chain, other than a manufacturer or an importer, who makes a measuring instrument available on the market;
“economic operator” means a manufacturer, authorised representative, importer or distributor;
“enforcement notice” means a notice served in accordance with regulation 69(2);
“enforcement officer” means—
(a) an inspector; or
(b) a person appointed by the Secretary of State to act on the Secretary of State’s behalf to enforce these Regulations;
“essential requirements” means, in relation to a measuring instrument (or a class of that measuring instrument), the requirements specified as being applicable in relation to that measuring instrument (or that class) in Schedule 1;
“EU declaration of conformity” means a declaration of conformity required to be drawn up in accordance with chapter 3 of Part 4;
“EU-design examination certificate” means an EU-design certificate issued by a notified body in accordance with Module H1 of Annex II to the Directive;
“EU-type examination certificate” means an EU-type examination certificate issued by a notified body in accordance with Module B of Annex II to the Directive;
“exhaust gas analyser” means a measuring instrument that serves, in relation to a motor vehicle engine with spark ignition, to determine at the moisture level of the sample analysed the volume fractions of the following exhaust gas components—
(a) carbon monoxide;
(b) carbon dioxide;
(c) oxygen; and
(d) hydrocarbons;
“gas meter” means an instrument designed to measure, memorise and display the quantity of fuel gas (volume or mass) that has passed it which is intended for residential, commercial or light industrial use;
“harmonised standard” has the meaning set out in point 1(c) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European standardisation7(as amended from time to time);
“importer” means any person who—
(a) is established within the European Economic Area; and
(b) places a measuring instrument from a third country on the European Economic Area market;
“in writing” includes text that is—
(a) transmitted by electronic means;
(b) received in legible form; and
(c) capable of being used for subsequent reference;
“M marking” means a marking applied to a measuring instrument which consists of the capital letter ‘M’ and the last two digits of the year of its affixing surrounded by a rectangle, the height of which is equal to that of the CE marking applied to that instrument;
“measuring instrument” has the meaning in regulation 3(1);
“make available on the market” means any supply of a measuring instrument for distribution, or use on the European Economic Area market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge, and related expressions are to be construed accordingly;
“manufacturer” means a person who—
(a) manufactures a measuring instrument, or has a measuring instrument designed or manufactured, and markets that measuring instrument under their name or trade mark; or
(b) is to be treated as a manufacturer by virtue of regulation 6(2);
“market surveillance authority” means the Secretary of State acting in the capacity of the market surveillance authority pursuant to the designation made by regulation 62 (the market surveillance authority) and where the context requires includes a market surveillance authority in another EEA state;
“material measure” means—
(a) a material measure of length; or
(b) a capacity serving measure;
“material measure of length” means an instrument comprising scale marks whose distances are given in legal units of length;
“national accreditation body” means the national accreditation body as defined in...
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