Weights and Measures: Protecting Equity in the Marketplace

Facilitating a strong economy. On any given day, every American makes dozens of purchase decisions — at the grocery store and the gas pump, to pay a taxi fare or feed a parking meter, for a yard of fabric or a gallon of home heating oil. As diverse as the character of these "daily necessities" may be, they all have one ingredient in common: the trust that is built into every transaction by a weights and measures program.

Applying uniform weights and measures standards to commercial transactions is one of the most important supports to a strong national economy. The positive outcomes are numerous: uniformity fosters good will, minimizes trade barriers to interstate commerce and increases U.S. opportunities for international export trade. From evolving technologies to the advent of new marketing practices for the Internet, effective weights and measures management requires a continuous review and updating process. It is the National Conference on Weights and Measures, Inc. (NCWM) that creates the standards and process to fairly meet the needs of consumers, businesses, regulators and manufacturers.