The Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

PART IGENERAL

Citation, commencement and revocation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 and shall come into operation on 1st June 2006.

(2) The 1985 Regulations are hereby revoked.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2) and the following provisions, the 1985 Regulations shall continue to apply to any beltweigher to which those Regulations applied which was first passed as fit for use for trade before the 1st June 2006.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the 1981 Order” means the Weights and Measures (Northern Ireland) Order 1981;

“the 1985 Regulations” means the Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1985(1);

“beltweigher” means weighing equipment of the belt conveyor type being an automatic weighing instrument for continuously weighing a bulk product on a conveyor belt by the action of gravity without systematic subdivision of the mass and without interrupting the movement of the conveyor belt;

“certificate of approval” means a certificate of approval of a pattern of weighing equipment granted or renewed by the Department under Article 10 or 11 of the 1981 Order or any instrument having effect under Article 11(5) of the 1981 Order as if it were a certificate of approval so granted on 4th April 1979, or a certificate of approval of a pattern of weighing equipment deemed under Article 10(8) of the 1981 Order to have been granted and published under the said Article 10;

“Department” means the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment;

“maximum permissible error” in relation to a beltweigher means, except in paragraph (3), the maximum permissible error for automatic weighing in relation to a beltweigher of its Class as determined in accordance with clauses 2.2 to 2.2.3 of R 50-1; the Table in clause 2.2.1 is set out in the Schedule;

“minimum totalised load” means the quantity in units of mass below which a totalisation may be subject to excessive relative errors as determined in accordance with clause 2.3 of R 50-1;

“the stamp” means the stamp prescribed by the Weights and Measures (Prescribed Stamp) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1969(2);

“weighing unit” means the part of a beltweigher providing information on the mass of the load to be measured.

(2) In these Regulations—

(a)“Class 0.5 beltweigher” means a beltweigher which is marked as such;

(b)“Class 1 beltweigher” means a beltweigher which is marked as such or as Class I; and

(c)“Class 2 beltweigher” means a beltweigher which is marked as such or as Class II,

on its descriptive plate or elsewhere on the instrument; and “Class” shall be construed accordingly.

(3) For the purposes of the marks referred to in paragraph (2), the Class of a beltweigher is the Class appropriate to its accuracy on initial verification ascertained in relation to maximum permissible errors in accordance with clause 2.2.1 of R 50-1.

Recommendations of the International Organisation of Legal Metrology

3.—(1) In these Regulations “R 50-1” means the International Recommendation entitled “Continuous totalizing automatic weighing instruments (beltweighers) Part 1: Metrological and technical requirements – Tests”(3).

(2) In these Regulations, any expression which is not defined in these Regulations and is used both herein and in R 50-1 has the same meaning as in R 50-1.

Application

4.—(1) These Regulations apply to beltweighers for use for trade other than—

(a)beltweighers to which the 1985 Regulations continue to apply by virtue of regulation 1(3); or

(b)beltweighers for use for trade which bears the mark of EEC initial verification; and in this sub-paragraph the expression “mark of EEC initial verification” has the meaning assigned to it in regulation 13 of the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1988(4).

(2) For the purposes of Article 9(1) of the 1981 Order (weighing or measuring equipment for use for trade)—

(a)beltweighers to which the 1985 Regulations apply shall continue to be prescribed; and

(b)other beltweighers to which these Regulations apply shall also be prescribed.

(3) The Weights and Measures Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1967(5) are hereby further amended by the substitution for regulation 3(2)(h) of the following sub-paragraph—

“(h)beltweighers to which the Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1985(6) or the Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006(7) apply;”.

Purposes of use for trade

5.  A person shall not use a beltweigher for trade—

(a)except for the purpose of measuring quantities of material the values of which expressed in units of measurement of mass are not less than the value of the minimum totalised load;

(b)for a purpose other than a purpose specified in the certificate of approval relating to it;

(c)otherwise than in conformity with any mark placed on it in conformity with these Regulations; or

(d)in the case of a Class 2 beltweigher, for the purpose of weighing any material other than ballast, that is to say, any of the materials to which the expression “ballast” applies in Schedule 4 to the 1981 Order.

(3)

Edition 1997 (E) published by the International Organisation of Legal Metrology

(4)

S.I. 1988/186, as amended by S.I. 1988/1128