1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Measuring Instruments (Material Measures of Length) Regulations 2006.
(2) This regulation, regulations 2, 7, 9 and 10 and Part 1 of Schedule 2 shall come into force on 30th May 2006.
(3) The remaining regulations shall come into force on 30th October 2006.
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“accuracy class” means the classification of the material measure of length determined in accordance with the provisions of Tables 1 and 2 in Schedule 1;
“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;
“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 17(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 a material measure of length in accordance with regulation 20;
“enforcement authority” means any person who is, pursuant to regulation 16, authorised to enforce these Regulations;
“enforcement notice” means a notice served in accordance with regulation 18(2);
“enforcement officer” means—
an inspector; or
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 of Annex I and Annex MI-008 as 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—
transmitted by electronic means;
received in legible form; and
capable of being used for subsequent reference;
“M marking” means the M marking referred to in regulation 12;
“manufacturer” means a person responsible for the conformity of a material measure of length 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;
“material measure of length” means an instrument comprising scale marks whose distances are given in legal units of length;
“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 for the time being published by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union pursuant to Article 16.1(b);
“notified body” means—
the Secretary of State; or
a United Kingdom notified body; and
for the purposes of regulations 4(1)(c), 18(1)(b), 20(1)(c) and 22(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 a material measure of length intended for an end user, whether for reward or free of charge;
“put into use” means the first use of a material measure of length intended for the end user for the purposes for which it was intended;
“relevant national standard” means a standard applicable to a material measure of length—
implementing a harmonised standard that has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union C series; and
the reference of which is published—
in the United Kingdom by the Secretary of State; or
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 a material measure of length, the reference of which is published—
in the United Kingdom by the Secretary of State; or
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 the material measure of length in accordance with regulation 21.
(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.
3.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2), (3) and (4), these Regulations apply to the following material measures of length, excluding dipping and strapping tapes, namely a measure of—
(a)50 metres;
(b)30 metres;
(c)20 metres;
(d)10 metres;
(e)5 metres;
(f)3 metres;
(g)2 metres;
(h)1.5 metres;
(i)1 metre;
(j)0.5 metre;
(k)1 decimetre;
(l)1 centimetre
which is—
(i)for use for trade; and
(ii)first placed on the market or put into use on or after 30th October 2006.
(2) These Regulations do not apply to a material measure of length—
(a)which has been first passed as fit for use for trade and stamped before 30th October 2006 under the Measuring Equipment (Measures of Length) Regulations 1986(5); and
(b)which is placed on the market before that date;
(3) These Regulations do not apply to a material measure of length—
(a)in respect of a pattern of which EEC pattern approval was granted before 30th October 2006 under the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1988(6) (“the 1988 Regulations”) and is in force; and
(b)which bears a mark of EEC initial verification or of EEC partial verification.
(4) These Regulations do not apply to a material measure of length which is not compliant with the essential requirements and which is displayed or presented at a trade fair, exhibition or demonstration, if a sign displayed visibly on or near the measure clearly indicates that the measure—
(a)is not compliant with those requirements; and
(b)cannot be acquired or used until it is made compliant with those requirements by the manufacturer.
(5) For the purposes of paragraph (3)—
(a)a grant of EEC pattern approval, or the affixing of a mark of EEC initial verification shall be in accordance with the relevant provisions of the 1988 Regulations or, in the case of any other member State, in accordance with the relevant provisions of measures in force which implement Council Directive 73/362/EEC(7) as amended by Council Directive 78/629/EEC(8) and Commission Directive 85/146/EEC(9); and
(b)the affixing of a mark of EEC partial verification shall be in accordance with the 1988 Regulations, or in the case of any other member State, in accordance with the measures in force which implement Council Directive 71/316/EEC(10) as amended by Council Directives 72/427/EEC(11), 83/575/EEC(12), 87/354/EEC(13), 87/355/EEC(14) and 88/665/EEC(15).
OJ No. L135, 30.4.04, p.1.
OJ No. L204, 21.7.98, p.37.
OJ No. L217, 5.8.98, p.18.
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).
S.I. 1986/1682 as amended by S.I.1986/2109, S.I.1994/1851, S.I. 1996/2636.
S.I. 1988/186 as amended by S.I. 1988/296 and S.I. 1988/1128
OJ No. L335, 5.12.73, p.56. (repealed by Directive 2004/22/EC (OJ No. L135, 30.4.04, p.1).
OJ No. L209, 29.7.78, p. 8.
OJ No. L054, 23.2.85, p.29.
OJ No. L202, 6.09.71, p.1, OJ/SE 1971(II) p.707.
OJ No. L291, 28.12.72, p.156, OJ/SE 1972, 28-30 Dec., p.71.
OJ No. L332, 28.11.83, p.43.
OJ No. L192, 11.7.87, p.43.
OJ No. L192, 11.7.87, p.46.
OJ No. L382, 31.12.88, p.42.