TRADE MEASUREMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE TRADE MEASUREMENT REVIEW OF THE UNIFORM TRADE MEASUREMENT LEGISLATION PROPOSAL FOR AMENDMENT AND REQUEST FOR COMMENTS AMENDMENT TO SECTION 28 OF THE TRADE MEASUREMENT (PRE-PACKED ARTICLES) REGULATION 1991 October 2000

TRADE MEASUREMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE

REVIEW OF THE UNIFORM TRADE MEASUREMENT LEGISLATION

PROPOSAL FOR AMENDMENT AND REQUEST FOR COMMENTS

AMENDMENT TO SECTION 28 OF THE

TRADE MEASUREMENT (PRE-PACKED ARTICLES) REGULATION 1991

Introduction

Under a formal agreement signed in 1990 between the Commonwealth, the States and the Territories (except Western Australia), all jurisdictions, with the exception of Western Australia, enacted model uniform trade measurement legislation.

In 1995 a Trade Measurement Advisory Committee ("TMAC") was formed by the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs ("MCCA") and one of its functions was the ongoing review of trade measurement legislation nationally.

TMAC has recommended that the trade measurement legislation be amended to improve trade measurement administration and MCCA has requested that Queensland proceed with drafting the recommended amendments to the Queensland Trade Measurement Act 1990 ("the Act"). In the interests of uniformity these amendments will be used as a model by the other participating States and Territories to amend their own legislation.

Note: The numbering of the Act and Regulations in this document refers to the Queensland legislation. It may differ from that of other States and Territories.

This paper addresses one of the proposed amendments and is forwarded to your organisation for comment because of your involvement in the relevant industry. Only those amendments that relate to the operation of your organisation have been forwarded to you for comment.

This paper addresses the proposal to amend section 28 of the Trade Measurement (Pre-packed Articles) Regulation 1991:

"Section 28 of the Trade Measurement (Pre-packed Articles) Regulation 1991 should be amended by repealing the Table and requiring the products listed in sub-regulation (1) to be unit priced only when packed in random mass packs.

Section 28 should also be amended to remove the references to `fruit' and `vegetables'"

However, should you wish to comment on the other amendments to the legislation, please contact this Office so that a copy of the relevant consultation papers can be forwarded to you.

Other Amendments

The other amendments for which Issues Papers have been prepared are:

1. "Amendment of the Trade Measurement Act 1990 - Firewood" - The provisions of the Trade Measurement Act 1990 should be amended to make it a requirement to "stack" firewood for sales by volume. Definitions of "stacked" and "firewood" are also seen as a requirement. (This does not preclude firewood being sold by reference to mass or per load.)

2. "A new section 15(1)(c) be added to the Act which states that the administering authority `may provide for certification periods to be set'.

"Section 15(2) of the Act be re-written so that it relates to the new section 15(1)(c) and states that the administering authority `may provide for the certification of a measuring instrument as often as is necessary or desirable in relation to specified classes of instruments'".

3. "The Average Quantity System" - The Average Quantity System to be introduced into legislation and current shortweight provisions be repealed. This includes repealing "mass when packed" and "mass at standard condition" provisions.

4. "Amendment of the Trade Measurement Act 1990 and the Trade Measurement (Weighbridges) Regulation 1991 - Certificates of Suitability" - The Trade Measurement Act 1990 and the Trade Measurement (Weighbridges) Regulation 1991 should be amended to remove the separate requirement for certificates of suitability for public weighbridges and a requirement which incorporates the certificate of suitability as part of the licence be made.

5. "Amendment of Section 23(1) of the Trade Measurement (Weighbridges) Regulation 1991" - Section 23(1) of the Trade Measurement (Weighbridges) Regulation 1991 should be amended to make the provision of tare mass books optional.

6. "Amendment of Section 23(2), (3) and (4) of the Trade Measurement (Weighbridges) Regulation 1991" - Section 23(2), (3) and (4) of the Trade Measurement (Weighbridges) Regulation 1991 should be amended to allow for the electronic printing and storage of measurement tickets.

7. "Amendment of Section 19(b) of the Trade Measurement (Pre-packed Articles) Regulation 1991" - Section 19(b) of the Trade Measurement (Pre-packed Articles) Regulation 1991 be amended by deleting the existing words and replacing them with:

"(b) the total net mass of all the eggs in the package".

This would also require the deletion of the reference to eggs in section 18(1)(a) of the Regulation.

8. "Amendment of Section 25 of the Trade Measurement Act 1990" - Section 25 of the Trade Measurement Act 1990 should be repealed to remove the "Special provisions for sale of meat".

National Competition Policy

You are also asked to comment on the implications that the proposed amendment to section 28 of the Trade Measurement (Pre-packed Articles) Regulation 1991 may have in terms of the National Competition Policy review of legislation. Under the Competition Principles Agreement signed by the States, Territories and the Commonwealth, it was agreed that existing legislation and proposed legislation would be reviewed in terms of its impact on competition in the relevant market. The Agreement provides that:

"The guiding principle is that legislation ... should not restrict competition unless it can be demonstrated that:

(a) the benefits of the restriction to the community as a whole outweigh the costs; and

(b) the objectives of the legislation can only be achieved by restricting competition".

The review that is to be conducted should:

"(a)clarify the objectives of the legislation;

(b) identify the nature of the restriction on competition;

(c) analyse the likely effect of the restriction on competition and on the economy generally;

(d) address and balance the costs and benefits of the restriction; and

(e) consider alternative means for achieving the same result including non-legislative approaches".

The specific issues that you are asked to address are set out in the body of this Issues Paper.

HOW TO MAKE COMMENTS AND SUBMISSIONS You are invited to make comments and submissions on the issues raised in this Issues Paper. You are also invited to contact the MCCA Secretariat to request information on the other amendments proposed to be made to the trade measurement legislation. Written comments and submissions should be sent to: Neil Power Executive Officer Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs Consumer Affairs Division Department of the Treasury Parkes Place PARKES ACT 2600 Facsimile transmissions can be sent to (02) 6263 2960. Email can be sent to npower@treasury.gov.au Oral submissions can be made by telephoning Malcolm Bartlett on (07) 3836 0409. Closing date for submissions is 30 November 2000.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Unless there is an indication from you that you wish your submission to remain confidential, your submission may be subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act 1992 (Qld).

Background

Section 28 of the Trade Measurement (Pre-packed Articles) Regulation 1991 provides:

"Unit price marking - retail sales of certain foods by mass

28. (1) This regulation applies to pre-packed -

(a) fruit;

(b) dried fruit, dehydrated fruit and dried or dehydrated mixed fruit;

(c) cheese and cheese products;

(d) dressed poultry not marked in terms of minimum mass in accordance with regulation 18;

(e) fish (including crustaceans);

(f) mushrooms;

(g) vegetables;

(h) meat; and

(i) smallgoods (including bacon, corned beef and ham).

(2) When a pre-packed article to which this regulation applies is sold (except for the purpose of being resold) the package containing the article must (in addition to being marked with the measurement of the article) be marked with its total price and price per kilogram unless -

(a) the total price and price per kilogram are adequately displayed at the time of sale, as provided by subregulation (4); or

(b) the article is described in Column 1 of the Table to this regulation and is packed in a quantity specified in Column 2 of that Table opposite the description.

(3) The marking on a package required by this regulation must be made as if it were a measurement marking.

(4) The total price and price per kilogram are adequately displayed if displayed on or immediately adjacent to the receptacle in or on which the article is exposed for sale, in characters not less than 10 mm high and in such manner as to be readily seen and easily read.

TABLE

COLUMN 1	COLUMN 2
Cheese and cheese products Dressed poultry and meat Dried fruit, dehydrated fruit, dried or dehydrated mixed fruit Fruit, fish (including crustaceans), mushrooms and vegetables Smallgoods (including bacon, corned beef and ham)	100g 125g 200g 250g 375g 500g 750g 1kg integral multiples of 500g 100g 125g 200g 250g 500g 1kg integral multiples of 1kg 100g 125g 150g 200g 250g 375g 500g 750g 1kg 1.5kg integral multiples of 1kg 15g 20g 25g 50g 75g 100g 125g 150g 200g 250g 375g 500g 750g 1kg 1.25kg 1.5kg 2.5kg integral multiples of 1kg 50g 125g 175g 250g 375g 500g integral multiples of 500g

Column 2 of the Table is currently causing problems for the retail industry as it restricts the sizes that column 1 products can be packed without being unit priced. There is no consistency in the sizes and the specified sizes can make it difficult for consumers to calculate the price per kilogram of products.

Further, other products such as breakfast cereals, for example, can be packed in other size packages and consumers have not complained about these practices.

The amendment in relation to the deletion of references to "fruit" and "vegetables" is seen to be necessary because this will allow traders to pack fruit and vegetables in other sized packages and by count.

Proposal for Amendment

The proposal to abolish the Table and to require unit pricing of the products listed in section 28(1) is thought to be more appropriate only when the products are packed in set sized packages because the majority of products sold to consumers can be sold in this way. The Table effectively restricts the ability of traders in selling those specifically listed products to the package sizes that are listed. This is seen to be a detriment to both traders and consumers who may wish to purchase other quantities of these particular products off the shelf.

The proposal to amend the section in relation to fruit and vegetables is thought to be appropriate because fruit and vegetables are commonly sold by reference to count or weight when sold loose. However, when they are pre-packed the size of the package is restricted by the inclusion in section 28.

The primary objective of trade measurement legislation is to promote fair trading and accuracy in the relevant market place. Trade measurement authorities are responsible for ensuring that traders and consumers are confident that goods are sold in a fair and equitable manner.

National Competition Policy guidelines provide that the benefit to the restriction to the community should outweigh the costs and that the objectives of the legislation cannot be achieved by any other means.

Both traders and consumers will benefit from these amendments and the amendments should not result in any restriction on competition.

You are asked to comment on the amendments. In particular your comments in relation to the following questions are welcomed:

1. Should section 28 of the Trade Measurement (Pre-packed Articles) Regulation 1991 be amended as described? Why do you think so?

2. Will the amendment as described have any impact on you whether you are a trader or a consumer?

3. If it is considered that the amendment will impact on you, can you describe the potential costs to you as either a trader or a consumer?

4. Are there any potential restrictions involved in the proposed amendment?

5. If there are considered to be any restrictions, will these restrictions involve any cost or disadvantage to you either as a trader or consumer?

6. Will the proposed amendment have any impact on competition in the market place in which you either trade or purchase goods? If so, what impact will it have?

7. If you are a trader, what factors are involved in the decision to pre-pack goods?

8. If you are a trader, do the existing labelling requirements impose significant restrictions on how you wish to do business? If so, what are those restrictions?

9. Do the labelling requirements significantly add to your business costs?

10. As a consumer, to what extent do you rely on these labelling requirements for purchasing pre-packaged goods?

11. Is there a noticeable trend in the nature and extent of pre-packaged goods?

12. Are there any other issues that you consider relevant?

If you are interested in participating in follow up consultation on these issues, please provide us with a telephone number where you can be contacted during office hours.