Page 3227 - Week 11 - Thursday, 12 September 1991
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TRADE MEASUREMENT BILL 1991
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (11.05): Mr Speaker, I present the Trade Measurement Bill 1991. I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
The Trade Measurement Bill 1991 is the first part of a package of modern trade measurement legislation arising from an agreement made in January 1990 between the Commonwealth, States and Territories concerning the adoption and administration of uniform trade measurement legislation throughout Australia.
Members will recall that this Bill was originally presented to the Assembly in December 1990 by the former Attorney-General, Mr Collaery. Two ancillary Bills - the Trade Measurement (Administration) Bill and the Weights and Measures (Amendment) Bill - were also developed under the previous Government. These Bills will also be introduced into the Assembly today. This Bill is based on model uniform legislation developed by the Standing Committee on Trade Measurement. Queensland, the Northern Territory and New South Wales have already commenced their packages.
The regulation of trade measurement, also known as weights and measures, has become increasingly important in the modern world. Technological advances have caused many changes in the marketing and packaging of goods. Consumers often find that it is difficult to be sure that they are getting what they pay for. This legislation is aimed at ensuring that unfair trade measurement practices such as short weight or measure are more easily detected and that compliance with the law is more easily achieved.
The adoption of uniform legislation throughout Australia will also bring great benefits to traders by promoting commercial certainty. This will lead to a reduction in business costs and greater efficiency in the trade measurement industry which services the entire Australian marketplace. It is expected that such savings will be passed on to consumers.
The major difference between this new legislation and the existing legislation is that the new legislation allows each administering authority to make better use of its own resources. For example, the authority may license persons to certify measuring instruments. Previously, this task was undertaken exclusively by the inspectors of the Trading Standards Office of the Consumer Affairs Bureau. By licensing private individuals to certify measuring instruments, these inspectors will now be free to ensure compliance with a wider variety of trade measurement activities. In addition, the licensing authority will be at liberty to determine when the testing and verification of instruments is necessary, rather than being locked into a yearly retesting cycle.
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