Barbados is set to overhaul its decades-old Weights and Measures Act with a new Metrology Bill aimed at guaranteeing fairness in trade, building consumer trust, and ensuring businesses face stricter accountability over how goods and services are measured.
The Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI) on Friday embarked on a national public and stakeholder consultative drive designed to usher in the new legislative system of measurement, which officials say will protect consumers and businesses and enhance the island’s competitiveness.
Director of the BNSI, Haydn Rhynd, told a hybrid gathering of regulators, enforcers and quality control organisations at a workshop entitled Getting Our Measurements Right, that the proposed Barbados Metrology Act would engender a climate of trust, fairness and transparency among consumers and industry in the purchase and sale of goods and the provision of services.
“We are now bringing to the table a law that establishes rules for accurate and consistent measurement in Barbados. That’s the heart of it. The Metrology Bill, really in essence will bring fair trade, it will definitely issue in areas where we can protect consumers a lot better; and it has the innovative responses to a lot of the modern equipment and the modern devices to be used, that are really not covered in our 1979 Weights and Measures Act,” Rhynd announced in the presence of new Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Senator Johnathan Reid.
He went on to explain why accurate measurements matter for consumers and businesses.
“We have to make sure that in every transaction that affects us… whether it is at the petrol station, whether it’s in a shop, whether it’s in an export warehouse…. We have to make sure that the measurement that is being done is based on trusted standards,” the standards watchdog official said. “What this means is that … we get exactly what we are paying for. And then, the sellers, … can compete fairly without cutting corners; and if you are a fair seller and you know that you are above board, then you can be assured that your competition is not allowed to do foolishness and continue to be in business.”
Rhynd added: “So that any disputes we may have about the quantity, whether it is weight, volume or whatever, we will reduce those disputes.”
Noting that too, often people take labels for granted and accept that what is displayed is correct, he added, “What we are saying is that we need a system of transparency, of accountability, where Barbados then has the means… to verify you have five kilogrammes [if the label says so].”
He underscored the importance of properly calibrated instruments by citing a tragic case in a neighbouring Caribbean country, where six cancer patients died because faulty machines dispensed incorrect chemotherapy doses.
“Patients with cancer were going in for chemotherapy, and there were machines which were being used to dispense the exact radiation dose for the patients, their age, their weight, their gender…. All of the procedures were followed by the lab technicians and the practitioners, but the machine was off. And, six patients died because they received hundreds and hundreds times the radiation dose that was intended,” Rhynd shared.
He said consumers should feel empowered to ask for verification during any transaction involving measured goods or services.
“If you are doing a transaction to which you are uncertain about, you can request to see the scale result or the scale reading. In the construction sector, you will get a receipt with a bill, and as a customer, you are well entitled to ask questions, especially when you suspect that there may be something [amiss] going on,” the BNSI director said. “The Act says when it comes to the verification… all measuring instruments used for trade… —that is scales, fuel pumps, weight bridges, meters and so on… must be verified by a legal metrology officer. Instruments must carry a verification mark or certificate that can be regularly recalibrated.”
In his address to the workshop, Minister Reid challenged the BNSI to make its awareness campaign practical and clear. (EJ)
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