THE Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has cautioned traders and professionals who are using adjusted weighing or measuring instruments to shortchange the public to quit the practice.
The Authority warned that any trader or professional who was caught using an adjusted weighing or measuring instrument would be dealt with.
In a statement issued in Accra last Friday, the Authority reminded traders that it was an offence to use and also adjust any weighing or measuring instruments for trade without the prior approval of the authority.
It said per the Weights and Measures Act, 1975, NRCD 326, anyone who flouted the law “commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding 500 penalty units or to both the imprisonment and the fine.”
The instruments, it said applied to “water meters, aviation equipment, gas meters, hygrometers, speed radars, alcohol meters, sphygmomanometers( blood pressure meter), flow meters and everything used for weighing and measuring in industry or trade related activities as specified in the Act.”
Others instruments, the statement said were weighing scales, thermometers, energy meters, equipment used in the Oil and Gas Industry, weigh bridges and hospital equipment.
It said the Act which sought to ensure fairness to both the seller and buyer/consumer mandated the GSA to perform three important activities comprising pattern approval, verification and calibration.
Additionally, the statement said the Act 326 further required that importers of weighing and measuring instrument for trade purposes obtain approval from GSA before importation and initial use of the instruments.
The GSA’s caution comes weeks after the authority busted 10 fuel stations in the Greater Accra and Central Regions for under-delivering the right quantities of fuel when their fuel pumps were inspected during a random inspection.
Each of them was fined Ghc5, 000.
BY TIMES REPORTER
