FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2000
SCDA Celebrates National Weights and Measures Week
(Columbia, SC)---The South Carolina Department of Agriculture has a weighty responsibility for protecting everyone in the marketplace.
The Department has been responsible for enforcing the Weights and Measures Law in South Carolina for about 100 years. But, the first weights and measures act in our state was approved in open assembly over 300 years ago. All of this points to the fact that each year during the week of March 1-7, we celebrate National Weights and Measures Week.
Weights and measures enforcement is under the direction of the Department's Consumer Services Division. Field specialists from this division operate in all corners of South Carolina inspecting and testing all weights and measures devices used in commercial trade in our state. The Consumer Services Division Metrology and Calibration Laboratory's standards of weights and measures is traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland. Those standards are traceable to the World Bureau of Standards, located near Paris, France.
Working assigned routes, field specialists check scales and meters in everything from grocery stores to truck terminals and weighing stations along the state's interstate highways. This service ensures that buyers receive the proper amount for the amount paid, and sellers dispense only the correct amount for offered for sale.
The South Carolina Department of Agriculture is aware of the tremendous public trust placed upon us in the marketplace, and we pledge to continue to do our best to enforce the Weights and Measures Law of South Carolina. At the same time, we call on both buyers and sellers in our state to use fair practices in their commercial dealings each and every day.
Weights and measures is everyone's business. Consumer and businesses both benefit and can help our weights and measures officials enforce the law and keep a fair marketplace. If you have a problem with a weights or measures issue, first talk to the store manager or owner. Allow the manager of owner a chance to correct the problem. If your problem is not resolved to your satisfaction, contact the South Carolina Department of Agriculture Consumer Services Division at (803) 737-6090.
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