The Commissioner of Agriculture shall:
(1) maintain traceability of the state standards to the national standards in the possession of the National Institute of Standards and Technology;
(2) enforce this chapter;
(3) issue reasonable regulations for the enforcement of this chapter which have the force of law;
(4) establish standards of weight, measure, or count, reasonable standards of fill, and standards for the presentation of unit cost information for a packaged commodity, as necessary;
(5) grant exemptions from this chapter or regulations promulgated pursuant to it when appropriate to the maintenance of good commercial practices within the State;
(6) conduct investigations necessary to ensure compliance with this chapter;
(7) delegate to appropriate personnel any of these responsibilities necessary for the proper administration of his office;
(8) test annually the standards of weight and measure used by a municipality or county within the State and approve them when found to be correct;
(9) inspect and test weights and measures kept, offered, or exposed for sale;
(10) inspect and test to ascertain if they are correct weights and measures commercially used in:
(a) determining the weight, measure, or count of commodities or things sold, or offered or exposed for sale, on the basis of weight, measure, or count; or
(b) computing the basic charge or payment for services rendered on the basis of weight, measure, or count;
(11) test all weights and measures used in checking the receipt or disbursement of supplies in every institution for the maintenance of which funds are appropriated by the General Assembly;
(12) approve for use and may mark weights and measures found to be correct and shall reject and mark as rejected weights and measures found to be incorrect. Rejected weights and measures may be seized if not corrected within the time specified or if used or disposed of in a manner not specifically authorized. The commissioner shall condemn and may seize weights and measures found to be incorrect that are not capable of being made correct;
(13) weigh, measure, or inspect packaged commodities kept, offered, or exposed for sale, sold, or in the process of delivery to determine whether they contain the amounts represented and whether they are kept, offered, or exposed for sale in accordance with this chapter or regulations promulgated pursuant to it. In carrying out this section, the commissioner shall employ recognized sampling procedures designated in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 133, "Checking the Net Contents of Packaged Goods".
(14) prescribe by regulation the appropriate term or unit of weight or measure to be used whenever the commissioner determines an existing practice of declaring the quantity of a commodity or setting charges for a service by weight, measure, numerical count, time, or combination, of them does not facilitate value comparisons by consumers or offers an opportunity for consumer confusion;
(15) allow reasonable variations from the stated quantity of contents which must include those caused by loss or gain of moisture during the course of good distribution practice or by unavoidable deviations in good manufacturing practice only after the commodity has entered intrastate commerce;
(16) provide for the training of weights and measures personnel and also may establish minimum training and performance requirements which must be met by all weights and measures county, municipal, or state personnel. The commissioner may adopt the training standards of the National Conference on Weights and Measures National Training Program.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 66-156; 1971 (57) 241; 1994 Act No. 501, Section 2, eff August 25, 1994.
Effect of Amendment
The 1994 amendment substituted "Commissioner of Agriculture" for "Commissioner", in paragraph (1) substituted "national standards in the possession of the National Institute of Standards and Technology" for "National Bureau of Standards", in paragraph (8) substituted " a municipality" for "any city"; in paragraph (10) deleted the provision regarding testing of representatives of samples; in paragraph (13) substituted "National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 133, 'Checking the Net Contents of Packaged Goods'" for "National Bureau of Standards Handbook 67, 'Checking Prepackaged Commodities'"; added paragraphs (15) and (16), and made grammatical changes throughout.