guide/guidepublic_en.pdf. 1.2.5 The principals of Regulation 2006 No. 1259 are set out in the Commission‗s. Guidance as follows:.
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Page 2 of 44 Summary This guidance covers all beltweighers in use for trade . Part 1 of this document covers beltweighers covered by the Measuring Instruments Directive (MID) i.e. those put on the market on or after 1st October 2006 . Part 2 covers beltweighers under national control i.e. before the MID came into force and during the transitional period. Nothing in th is guidance should be construed as overriding, amending or deferring safety regulations and requirements issued by the Health and Safety Executive (in Northern Ireland the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland), in connection with the conduct of persons and the condition and use of machinery and equipment on any premises. The guidance is addressed to organisations that are required to comply with weights and measures law. Following the guidance is not in itself obligatory but, if you do follow it, this should help your organisation to meet its legal obligations. Ultimately, only the courts can provide a definitive interpretation of the law. However, for further guidance on how to comply with the law, you can contact your local authority trading standards department, who provide this service free of charge: http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/index.cfm – simply type in your . This guidance complies with the Government Code of Practice on Guidance and will be reviewed in October 2016 National Measurement Office Stanton Avenue Teddington Middlesex TW11 0JZ www.bis.gov.uk/nmo ENQUIRIES Phone 020 8943 7277 Email registry@nmo.gov.uk
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Page 3 of 44 Revision History Version number and date of change Sections affected Version 1 First issued February 2012 Updates existing guidance on 2006 MID Regulations (now Part 1) of Practice on Guidance on expanded in Part 2 to cover the guidance on the Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) Regulations (S.I. 1983 No. 914 )
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Page 4 of 44 Part 1: The Measuring Instruments (Beltweighers) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006 No. 1259) [Pages 4 to 29] Contents 1.1 Foreword 1.2 Background 1.3 Part I – Preliminary Citation and commencement Interpretation Application 1.4 Part II – Placing on the market and putting into use of beltweighers Requirements for placing on the market and putting into use Compliance with the essential requirements Conformity assessment procedures Designation of United Kingdom notified bodies Provisions supplemental to regulation 7 Variation and termination of designations Fees Marking and identification requirements Conformity with other directives 1.5 Part III – Use for trade of beltweighers Requirements for use for trade Manner of use Manner of erection and installation 1.6 Part IV – Enforcement Enforcement authority Compliance notice procedure Immediate enforcement action Disqualification Re-qualification Testing of beltweighers Unauthorised application of authorised marks Powers of entry and inspection Penalties for offences 1.7 Part V – Miscellaneous and supplemental Adaptation for Northern Ireland Electromagnetic compatibility Annex Marking and Inscriptions
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Page 5 of 44 Part 1: The Measuring Instruments (Beltweighers) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006 No. 1259) 1.1 Foreword 1.1.1 The Measuring Instruments (Beltweighers) Regulations 2006, SI 2006/1259, The Regulations ) implement Directive 2004/22/EC ( the Directive ) in relation to the class of beltweighers known as continuous totalisers within the category of automatic weighing instruments covered by the Directive. The Regulations provide for the harmonisation of laws on beltweighers within Member States, thereby creating a single market for these instruments. 1.1.2 Eleven new measuring instrument Regulations have been made to implem ent the Directive. Ten of these have been written so that the types of instrument and their field of application mirror the scope of the Regulations made previously under the Weights and Measures Act 1985 and the Weights and Measures (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. A separate regulation relates to instruments covered by the Measuring Instruments Directive, but not regulated within the UK. These are referred to as non-prescribed instruments and the regulation governing them provides a means by which UK manufacturers can be permitted to undertake conformity assessment procedures on these instruments. This will allow them to export to other Member States where the particular instruments are regulated. 1.1.3 There is also a distinction between measures relating to measuring instruments when they are first placed on the market (which are governed by the Directive) and the in-service provisions which are derived from existing national provisions. The Regulations therefore apply both at the point at which the instrument is placed on the market and include in-service testing and subsequent repair and re-qualification. 1.1.4 This guidance covers the above Regulations. 1.1.5 The Regulations came into force on 30 October 2006 after which date new designs of beltweighers placed on the market must comply with their provisions. This guidance is intended to assist manufacturers, notified bodies and enforcement authorities in meeting the requirements of the Regulations. 1.1.6 A similar system of approval and verification of instruments has been operating successfully for several years for non-automatic weighing instruments (NAWIs) and manufacturers have benefited enormously from its introduction, through savings in costs on both approvals and verification, and through the widening of an easily accessible market. This should also be the case with the new Regulations. 1.1.7 There is significant input from WELMEC, the European Cooperation in Legal Metrology, to the understanding and interpretation of the MID. WELMEC has already convened a number of working groups for this purpose. WELMEC is considering questions of application and implementation, particularly in areas of technical uncertainty and acts as a forum for seeking advice from the European Commission on common issues. Information regarding WELMEC and its decisions can be found at www.welmec.org . 1.2 Background 1.2.1 The MID is New Approach directive and was adopted by the EC Council of Ministers in April 2004. It consists of 27 Articles, 14 annexes and 10 instrument
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Page 6 of 44 specific annexes and provides (subject to the transitional provisions) for the repeal of the earlier old approach Directive on beltweighers. Member States were required to implement the provisions of the MID into their national law by 30 April 2006 and to apply the new legislation with effect from 30 October 2006. 1.2.2 The MID extends to all measuring instruments listed in Article 1 and provides that Member States may prescribe use of them for measuring tasks for reasons of public interest, public health, public safety, public order, protection of the environment, protection of consumers, levying of taxes and duties and fair trading where they consider it justified. Following a public consultation it was decided that the UK implementation should apply to areas covered by existing weights and measures Regulations only. 1.2.3 The MID is the second “New Approach” directive adopted in respect of measuring instruments. The f the NAWI Directive ), which relates to non-automatic weighing instruments and came fully into force in January 2003. 1.2.4 The Commission has issued guidance on new approach directives in Guidance on the implementation of directives based on the New and Global Approach which can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/single-market-goods/files/blue- guide/guidepublic_en.pdf 1.2.5 The principals of Regulation 2006 No. Guidance as follows: o Harmonisation is limited to essential requirements. o Only products fulfilling the essential requirements may be placed on the market and put into service. o Harmonised standards, the reference numbers of which have been published in the Official Journal and which have been transposed into national standards, are presumed to conform to the corresponding essential requirements. o Application of harmonised standards or other technical specifications remain voluntary, and manufacturers are free to choose any technical solution that provides compliance with the essential requirements. o Manufacturers may choose between different conformity assessment procedures provided for in the applicable directive. 1.2.6 The “New Approach” to Technical Harmonisation is an important part of the process for achieving the single market. It is intended to remove the technical barriers to trade caused by differing national laws. Directives agreed under the New Approach allow for the free movement (placing on the market and putting into service) in the Community of goods that conform to the essential and other requirements of those directives. Such products carry the “CE marking”, and no Member State is allowed to refuse complying products access to its market. In this case all compliant automatic measuring instruments covered by the MID have free movement throughout the Community. 1.2 .7 In the Regulations it is important to distinguish between when instruments are first placed on the market or put into service and requirements that relate to in-service provisions . The first are requirements of the MID, the second are national provisions and will therefore apply only to Great Britain. 1.2.8 The Measuring Instruments Directive provides an ptionality claus . This means that Member States may prescribe the category and range of applications for measuring instruments they wish to control. This will lead to a variation between
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Page 8 of 44 An importer (a person responsible for placing on the market), for the purposes of the Directive, is any natural or legal person established in the Community who places a product from a third country on the Community market. The importer must ensure that he is able to provide the market surveillance authority with the necessary information regarding the product, where the manufacturer is not established in the Community, and has no authorised representative in the Community. In line with Schedule 1 of the Interpretation Act 1978 a person includes a body of persons corporate or unincorporated in that it applies to either a natural or a legal person. Notified Body means (a) the Secretary of State, i.e. National Measurement Office (NMO) Services ; or (b) a United Kingdom notified body (namely a person designated under Regulation 7); and (c) for the purposes of regulations 4(1)(c), 20(1)(b), 22(1)(c) and 25(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. Installer The installer and assembler of a product, which is already placed on the market, should take necessary measures to ensure that it still complies with the essential requirements at the moment of first use within the Community. This applies to products where the directive in question covers putting into service, and where such manipulations may have an impact on the compliance of the product. Application 1.3.4 The Regulations apply to beltweighers of any capacity or flowrate which are used for trade to weigh materials which are mined or weighed in bulk, such as coal, clay, sand, ballast (and rocks see Part III Manner of Use below for definition of ballast), and fish. Regulation 3(1) 1.3.5 The Regulations apply to beltweighers in use for trade as defined by section 7 of the Weights and Measures Act 1985 (in Northern Ireland Article 5 of the Weights and Measures (NI) Order 1981 that have been first placed on the market or put into service on or after 30 October 2006. Instruments already on the market are therefore not subject to these Regulations. The Regulations have similar in-service provisions to those included in the existing Regulations insofar as they are consistent with the MID. Regulation 3(2) 1.3.6 The Regulations do not apply to beltweighers which determine the quantity of mass, or mass flowrate, by measurement of the absorption of electro-magnetic radiation by the material being weighed, often referred to as nucleonic beltweighers they are precluded from these Regulations. This is by virtue of the definition of an automatic weighing instrument, which requires that mass be determined by the effect of gravity on the body being weighed (i.e. the load). Therefore all non-gravimetric beltweighers remain prescribed by the Weights and Measures Regulations 1963, SI 1963/1710 (in Northern Ireland the Weights and Measures Regulations (NI) 1967, S.R.&O.(N.I) 1967 No.237), for the purposes of section 11(1) of the Act (in Northern Ireland for the purposes of Article 9 of the Weights and Measures (N.I.) Order 1981). 1.3.7 The Regulations do not apply to instruments that have been first passed as fit for use for trade and stamped under the following Regulations in respect of which a
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Page 9 of 44 certificate of approval granted before 30 October 2006 is still in force: The Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) R the 2001 Regulations ) The Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) the 1983 A certificate of approval referred to in regulation 3(2) will remain valid until the date on which it expires but no later than 29 October 2016 and may be modified up to the date of expiry. Thus a beltweigher may continue to be used indefinitely provided it complies with the expired certificate. Regulations 3(3) and 3(5) 1.3.8 The Regulations do not apply to instruments with a mark of EEC initial or partial verification under the following set of Regulations in respect of which a certificate of EEC pattern approval granted before 30 October 2006 is still in force: The Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1988, SI 1988/186 (the 1988 Regulations) A certificate of EEC pattern approval referred to in regulation 3(3) will remain valid until the date on which it expires but no later than 29 October 2016 and may be modified up to the date of expiry. Thus a beltweigher may continue to be used indefinitely provided it complies with the expired certificate. 1.3.9 The earlier old approach Directive on beltweighers transposed under the 1988 Regulations – i.e. Council Directive 75/410/EEC of 24 June 1975 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to continuous totalizing weighing machines – is one of the directives which has been repealed under Article 22 of the MID. Regulation 3(4) 1.3.10 Instruments not in conformity with the Regulations may be displayed or presented at a trade fair, exhibition or demonstration if they are clearly marked to indicate that they are nor compliant with the essential requirements of the Regulations and cannot be acquired or used until they have been made to comply by the manufacturer. 1.3.11 The 2006 Regulations, would be that the following statements all apply: the instrument continuously weighs a bulk product on a conveyor belt without systematic subdivision of the product and without interrupting the movement of the conveyor belt the instrument is automatic, meaning that it follows a predetermined programme of automatic (weighing) processes without an operator intervening and that the feed of the material and determination of the weight of the load is automated the instrument is (or will be) in use for trade, meaning that the material being the payment of a toll or duty, and the instrument will be the final arbiter of the weight of that material (it is not to be checkweighed on another instrument for the purposes of such a transaction); and
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Page 10 of 44 the instrument has not already been verified and brought into use under SI 2001/1208 or SI 1983/914. 1.4 PART II – Placing on the market and putting into use of beltweighers Requirements for placing on the market and putting into use Regulation 4(1) 1.4.1 This regulation makes it an offence to first place on the market or put into use an instrument to which the 2006 Regulations apply unless it (a) meets the essential requirements, (b) has demonstrated conformity with these essential requirements and (c) carries the CE marking, M marking and identification number of the notified body which carried out the conformity assessment. See paragraphs 1.4.32-3 and the annex to this guidance for explanation of what these markings are. 1.4.2 In Regulation 4(1)(b) its refers to . 1.4.3 The terms placing on the market and putting into use are defined in the Regulations and originate from the Directive. The requirements of regulation 4(1) apply only to when beltweighers are first placed on the market or put into use. Any subsequent re-qualification is addressed by Part IV of the Regulations. It should be remembered that it is intended that these Regulations apply only to beltweighers that are being used for trade as defined in section 7 of the Weights and Measures Act 1985 (in Northern Ireland Article 5 of the Weights and Measures (NI) Order 1981. This applies to instruments when they are first placed on the market or re-qualified. Compliance with the essential requirements Regulation 5(1) 1.4.4 Manufacturers can use more than one method to demonstrate compliance with the essential requirements. These methods are identified as:- (a) using any technical solution that complies with the essential requirements; (b) correctly applying solutions set out in the relevant national standard; or (c) correctly applying solutions set out in the relevant normative document, and selecting and following one of the conformity assessment procedures referred to in regulation 6. Regulation 5(2) 1.4.5 This includes the presumption that instruments which conform fully or in part to relevant national standards or normative documents will be presumed to conform fully or in part with the essential requirements. Relevant national standards and normative documents for this purpose will be published by the Secretary of State, or the competent authority in another Member State in accordance with regulation 2. Normative documents for beltweighers identified by the Commission are published on
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Page 11 of 44 the NMO website and can be found under the heading http://www.bis.gov.uk/nmo. 1.4.6 The appropriate OIML Recommendation for beltweighers is R 50-1 which is http://www.oiml.org. 1.4.7 Where conformity is only in part to relevant national standards or normative documents then either alternative, or parts of both documents, where available, should be used to give full conformity or other technical solutions provided. Other technical solutions could include the use of European standards which are not harmonised standards and international standards such as OIML Recommendations which are not normative documents. Regulation 5(4) 1.4.8 Provides for devices which do not meet the essential requirements and which are not in use for trade. These can be connected to a beltweigher without affecting the conformity of the instrument to the essential requirements. Examples of such devices are printers or data storage devices for management purposes only. These devices are likely to carry their own CE marking under directives other than 2004/22/EC. Conformity assessment procedures Regulation 6(1) 1.4.9 The different conformity assessment procedures available to manufacturers are set out as modules in the annexes of the Directive. These are numbered A to H1. The options available to manufacturers for beltweighers are as follows: D1 B+D B+E B+F F1 G H1 AWIs – Mechanical . . . . . . . AWIs – Electro – mechanical . . . . . AWIs – Electronics &Software . . . . The options above represent: Declaration of conformity by the manufacturer based on quality assurance of the production process (including test and final inspection) but without the need for type examination (Module D1) Third party verification but without the need for type examination (Module F1) Type examination followed by declaration of conformity by the manufacturer based on formal quality assurance of the production process (including test and final inspection) as two separate processes (Modules B + D) Type examination followed by declaration of conformity by the manufacturer based on formal quality assurance of product testing and final inspection only (Modules B + E) Type examination followed by third party verification (Modules B + F) Third party verification for one off need type examination (Module G) Design examination together with declaration of conformity by the manufacturer based on full formal quality assurance of the design and
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