National Weights and Measures Week

National Weights and Measures Week. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. National Weights and Measures Week is being celebrated this week and provides an opportunity for consumers to know that someone is looking out for them in the marketplace. Eighteen inspectors with the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Measurement Standards Division hope the special week will draw attention to the work they do. COONEY: There is over 53-thousand licensed weighing and measuring devices throughout the state. We are there to help assure that those devices are working correctly to protect both the business and the consumer. ODA's Clark Cooney says inspectors perform routine checks on such things as grocery scales, gas pumps, and just about any device used to weigh or measure products sold to consumers. COONEY: If no one was looking at these devices, there's no assurance that people are getting what they are paying for. The consumer could be losing a lot of money on every single transaction they make. The business, for that matter, could be losing money as well. In many cases, more than half of a family's income is spent on items sold by weight, measure, or count. So it is vital that devices are inspected. While there are occasional problems with those devices, a vast majority of them in Oregon are operating correctly and giving the consumer exactly what they are paying for. Cooney says ODA's 18 measurement standards inspectors are looking at more than 53-thousand weighing and measuring devices around the state, assuring that the equipment is working correctly. COONEY: This is very important to the consumer because, if you think about it, just about everything we purchase is in some form of weight, measure, or count and there is some piece of equipment that is usually measuring that quantity for you. Cooney says inspection programs for weighing and measuring devices will no doubt be needed in the future. COONEY: Someone has to serve as the third unbiased party to verify that the transaction is fair, that businesses are working on an even competitive playing field, and the consumer is protected as well. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.