Governor Hogan Proclaims March 1-7 Maryland Weights and Measures Week

Agriculture Secretary Joe Bartenfelder (center) presents Governor Hogan’s Proclamation declaring March 1-7 Weights and Measures Week in Maryland to W&M Chief Ken Ramsburg (left) and Assistant Chief Joe Eccleston (right)

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Every day, Marylanders pay for consumer products based on a weight or measurement, like a gallon of gas or a pound of meat. The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA)’s Weights and Measures unit is responsible for ensuring those measurements are correct so that consumers get what they pay for. To recognize this important work, Governor Larry Hogan has issued a proclamation declaring March 1 – 7 Weights and Measures Week in Maryland.

“Our Weights and Measures Inspectors stay abreast of the ever-changing technological advancements in weighing and measuring devices as well as the latest laws and inspection procedures,” said Agriculture Secretary Joe Bartenfelder. “Their efforts protect consumers by ensuring fairness in commercial transactions involving anything sold by weight, measure, or count. They also help ensure a fair playing field for businesses around the state. Weights and Measures Week gives us an opportunity to recognize the important work they do for all of us.”

Weights and Measures inspectors randomly check packaged goods that are sold by weight (like meat and cheese at grocery stores) to make sure the weight listed on the package is correct. They also perform routine price verification inspections to ensure that consumers are charged the price on the shelf. MDA inspectors also investigate consumer complaints that range from common gas pump inaccuracies to firewood delivery.

MDA’s Weights and Measures unit inspects 61,079 weighing and measuring devices in commercial use at 7,063 businesses around the state. In FY 2014, MDA field staff conducted more than 32,150 inspections of commercial weighing and measuring devices, which include cash register and deli scales, shipping scales, large truck scales, fuel pumps, meters to measure home heating oil and propane, and other weighing and measuring devices used to determine the price of a product sold to a consumer.  MDA also inspected more than 6,633 individual lots of pre-packaged commodities offered for sale, investigated more than 641 consumer complaints, and performed price verification inspections on 30,000 items.

For information on the Weights and Measures Program in Maryland, or if you think the “cord” of firewood delivered to your home is a short measure, the gasoline pump at the corner gas station is incorrect, or the weight or measure of any product you purchased is incorrect, contact the MDA Weights and Measures Section, 50 Harry S Truman Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21401, (410) 841-5790 or email: weights.measures@maryland.gov.

For more information on the Weights and Measures Program in Maryland, see:

• MDA Weights and Measures AgBrief
• Photos of Weights and Measures inspectors in action, then and now
• MDA website

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