The Measuring Instruments (Automatic Gravimetric Filling Instruments) Regulations 2006

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“accuracy class” means the classification of an automatic gravimetric filling instrument determined in accordance with—

(a)

the provisions of regulation 14 in the case of an automatic gravimetric filling instrument when put into use for trade; and

(b)

paragraph 16 of Schedule 1 in the case of an automatic gravimetric filling instrument when placed on the market or put into use,

but the accuracy class in respect of that automatic gravimetric filling instrument shall not be of a higher level of precision than the reference value for accuracy class in respect of that instrument;

“authorised representative” means a person who is established in a member State and is authorised by a manufacturer, in writing, to act on his behalf;

“automatic gravimetric filling instrument” means an automatic weighing instrument that fills containers with a predetermined and virtually constant mass of product from bulk;

“automatic weighing instrument” means an instrument that determines the mass of a product without the intervention of an operator and 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;

“CE marking” means the CE marking referred to in regulation 12;

“the Commission” means the European Commission;

“compliance notice” means a notice served in accordance with regulation 19(2);

“conformity assessment procedure” means any procedure referred to in regulation 6;

“the Directive” means Directive 2004/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31st March 2004 on measuring instruments(1);

“disqualification sticker” means a sticker the design of which is published by the Secretary of State and which is affixed to an automatic gravimetric filling instrument in accordance with regulation 22;

“enforcement authority” means any person who is, pursuant to regulation 18, authorised to enforce these Regulations;

“enforcement notice” means a notice served in accordance with regulation 20(2);

“enforcement officer” means—

(a)

an inspector; or

(b)

a person appointed by the Secretary of State to act on his behalf to enforce Part II of these Regulations;

“essential requirements” means the requirements set out in Schedule 1;

“harmonised standard” means a technical specification adopted by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) or the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) or jointly by two or all of these organisations, at the request of the Commission pursuant to Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22nd June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society Services(2), as amended by Directive 98/48/EC(3), and prepared in accordance with the General Guidelines agreed between the Commission and one or more of CEN, CENELEC and ETSI;

“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;

“load receptor” means a part of an automatic gravimetric filling instrument on which loads are placed for the purpose of their being weighed;

“M marking” means the M marking referred to in regulation 12;

“manufacturer” means a person responsible for the conformity of an automatic gravimetric filling instrument with these Regulations with a view to either placing it on the market under his own name or putting it into use for his own purposes, or both;

“maximum capacity” means the maximum discrete load which the automatic gravimetric filling instrument is authorised to weigh and that can be weighed automatically on a load receptor;

“maximum permissible error” means, in the case of an automatic gravimetric filling instrument—

(a)

when it is placed on the market or put into use, the limit of error determined in accordance with paragraph 17 of Schedule 1; and

(b)

when it is in use for trade, the limit of error determined in accordance with paragraph 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 5;

“minimum capacity” means the minimum discrete load which the automatic gravimetric filling instrument is authorised to weigh and that can be weighed automatically on a load receptor;

“normative document” means a document containing technical specifications adopted by the Organisation Internationale de Métrologie Légale, subject to the procedure stipulated in Article 16.1, the reference of which is published by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union pursuant to Article 16.1(b);

“notified body” means—

(a)

the Secretary of State; or

(b)

a United Kingdom notified body; and

(c)

for the purposes of regulations 4(1)(c), 20(1)(b), 22(1)(c) and 25(6), a person designated by another member State,

who has been notified to the Commission and the other member States pursuant to Article 11.1;

“notified body criteria” means the criteria set out in Part 1 of Schedule 2;

“place on the market” means making available for the first time in a member State an automatic gravimetric filling instrument intended for an end user, whether for reward or free of charge;

“put into use” means the first use of an automatic gravimetric filling instrument intended for the end user for the purposes for which it was intended;

“reference value for accuracy class” means the value for accuracy class of an automatic gravimetric filling instrument determined by static testing of the weighing unit during influence quality testing prior to a certificate of approval being issued;

“relevant national standard” means a standard applicable to an automatic gravimetric filling instrument—

(a)

implementing a harmonised standard that has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union C series; and

(b)

the reference of which is published—

(i)

in the United Kingdom by the Secretary of State; or

(ii)

in another member State by the competent authority pursuant to the third sub-paragraph of Article 13.1;

“relevant normative document” means a normative document applicable to an automatic gravimetric filling instrument, the reference of which is published—

(a)

in the United Kingdom by the Secretary of State; or

(b)

in another member State by the competent authority pursuant to the third sub-paragraph of Article 13.2;

“re-qualification sticker” means a sticker the design of which is published by the Secretary of State and which is affixed to an automatic gravimetric filling instrument in accordance with regulation 23;

“United Kingdom notified body” means a person designated under regulation 7; and

“weighing unit” means a device which provides information on the mass of the load being weighed by the automatic gravimetric filling instrument.

(2) Other expressions used in these Regulations have the same meanings as in the Weights and Measures Act 1985.

(3) In these Regulations, a reference to a member State includes Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein(4).

(4) References in these Regulations to an Article, Annex or a part of an Annex are references to an Article, Annex or a part of an Annex to the Directive.

(1)

OJ No. L135, 30.4.04, p.1.

(2)

OJ No. L204, 21.7.98, p.37.

(3)

OJ No. L217, 5.8.98, p.18.

(4)

The application of the Directive was extended to the European Economic Area by Decision No. 31/205 (OJ No. L198, 28.7.05, p.20).