March 1-7 Named Maryland Weights and Measures Week

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’s Weights and Measures Program 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 as Weights and Measures Week in Maryland.

“Whether you are pumping gas at the station or weighing your produce at the grocery store, the department’s Weights and Measures inspectors are there working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure you are protected and getting exactly what you paid for,” said Maryland Agriculture Secretary Joseph Bartenfelder. “Weights and Measures Week is a great time to recognize the important work of our inspectors and thank them for ensuring fairness in commercial transactions of anything sold by weight, measure, or count around the state.”

The theme for this year’s Weights and Measures Week is “Building Weights and Measures’ Future by Sharing Our Knowledge.” This theme emphasizes the importance of the cooperation of weight and measures programs and inspectors from around the country; the value in sharing the story of weights and measures programs to consumers; and the need for continued training opportunities in this ever-changing field.

Maryland’s Weights and Measures Program inspects 60,941 weighing and measuring devices in commercial use at 8,805 businesses around the state. In FY 2019, field staff conducted 27,124 inspections of commercial weighing and measuring devices, including: cash registers; deli scales; shipping scales; large truck scales; fuel pumps; meters to measure home heating oil and propane; and many other devices. The department also inspected more than 5,114 individual lots of pre-packaged commodities offered for sale and investigated 325 consumer complaints, the majority of which were related to gasoline sales.

For more information on Maryland’s Weights and Measures Program, 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 not right, contact the department at (410) 841-5790 or email weights.measures@maryland.gov.

For more information on Maryland’s Weights and Measures Program, visit:

• National Conference on Weights and Measures Video: Getting What You Pay For at the Supermarket
• Maryland Department of Agriculture Photos: Weights and Measures – Then and Now
• Maryland Department of Agriculture: Weights and Measures AgBrief
• Maryland Department of Agriculture: Weights & Measures Program

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Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Twitter @MdAgDept