Newsletter

CECIP Newsletter Q2 2019

CECIP GA 2019 in Bratislava

CECIP members met between 12 and 15 June in Bratislava for the annual CECIP General Assembly (GA), where CECIP was hosted by the Slovak weighing association Únia Váharov. During those days the GA and several other meetings took place such as the legal metrology seminar and a meeting with international partner organisation. One of the highlights was the open part of the GA on Friday 14 June with various speakers including Peter Žiga, Slovak Minister of Economy. Other speakers were representing authorities and companies from Slovakia, Ireland, China and Germany. The open part of the GA focused on the different legal requirements in Slovakia and China and new developments in market surveillance and the OPC-UA project for the weighing industry.

At the General Assembly 2019 CECIP also welcomed a new member. The Turkish company Baykon, manufacturer of industrial weighing instruments and systems, was approved as new CECIP company member. Next to the GA on Friday and the internal meetings there were activities such as the excursion on Saturday morning and a gala dinner.

A press release from CECIP on the GA can be found here.

New kilogram definition becomes applicable

On World Metrology Day (20 May) the new definition of the kilogram became applicable. This new definition was approved at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in November 2018. It will change from a definition based on an artefact standard to a definition based on a physical constant, notably the Planck constant. In principle the new kilogram definition and the current kilogram definition should be have the same mass. More information on the new definition can be found in the guide that can be found here.

CECIP was involved in the process of developing the new definition and provided comments on several occasions. In the end CECIP is satisfied with the final agreement on the definition.

The European Directive 80/181/EEC that regulates the definition of the kilogram at EU level will be amended as well to be in line with this new definition. Publication of the amendment is expected for the end of July.

New documents to describe importance of weighing industry in different sectors

Weighing instruments are used in a large number of sectors and play a crucial role in many of them. Still, this is not always clear for the general public as the instruments are often hidden. Therefore, CECIP is developing a new series of publications where the use of weighing instruments in different sectors is explained.  Over the course of the next year these documents will be published with a new document each month.

The idea of these pages is to describe in simple terms where the weighing instruments are used, why they are an important enabler in that sector and how they contribute to further innovations. The first documents is ready and focusses on the weighing instruments in.

Historically, weighing instrument were essential to measure the weight of the products sold by farmers. Later weighing instruments enable for further automisation in agriculture. In the future weighing instruments will become even more important by being en vital part of precision farming technologies that make European agriculture more sustainable and profitable.

You can find the full document on weighing instruments that are used in agriculture here.

CECIP supports regulatory cooperation between EU and US

CECIP, the European association representing the weighing industry, received the call for proposals for regulatory cooperation between the EU and US from the European Commission. CECIP welcomes this opportunity to provide its input on the potential areas for cooperation and fully supports this initiative from the EU and US. There are various areas where cooperation would be beneficial.

A dialogue on standards

OIML standards are accepted by many countries all over the world. The acceptance of these OIML standards makes it easier for the European weighing industry to trade with third countries without making significant modifications to the weighing instruments or re-testing. The US has a different system in place. CECIP would encourage the European Commission to discuss the acceptance of OIML standards´ requirements in the US.

Conformity Assessment

Currently, weighing instruments need to obtain an EU type-approval from a European notified body to place weighing instruments on the EU market. At the same time, for the US market a type-approval is necessary in the US. CECIP believes this procedure could be simplified by allowing the mutual recognition of notified bodies as is in place in the CETA agreement. 

OIML Certification system

Since 1 January 2018 OIML has a certification system in place which certifies certain weighing instruments according to OIML Recommendations. CECIP is in favour of further development and acceptance of the certification system in both the EU and the US.

Conclusions

CECIP welcomes the initiative to work on regulatory cooperation between the EU and US. Reductions of barriers to trade are supported and CECIP is convinced that the best way forward is to align requirements, allow for mutual acceptance of conformity assessment bodies and the acceptance of OIML Recommendations and certificates from both sides.

You can find the full submission paper here.

CECIP opinion on technologies to identify overloaded vehicles

European legislation sets rules on the maximum authorised weights in international traffic. In article 10d of this Directive 96/53/EC is stipulated that Member States shall take measures to identify overloaded vehicles by 2021. The proposed solutions in the legislation are automatic weighing systems in the road infrastructure and on-board weighing (OBW) systems installed in all vehicles. This means that Member States have to make a decision in the near future which solution they will choose, but they should not be limited to these two options. Other options that can identify overloaded vehicles include dynamic weighbridges, weighing in motion systems incorporated in bridges, volume scanners or portable wheel load scales that are all established instruments in use.

CECIP developed a paper that aims at providing guidance on the possibilities to identify the overloaded vehicles. This is focused on the weighing aspect. CECIP’s position is technology neutral and CECIP only wants to support Member States in making their decision. You can find the paper here.

Generally, CECIP does not favour one technology over another, however considering the requirements set in the legislation there are doubts if the choice for OBW systems that only meet the legal requirements set in the delegated act, will lead to a situation where the benefits of OBW systems justify the costs. Furthermore, developments in WIM and other dynamic weighing systems are necessary to meet the needed requirements. Other technologies than the ones mentioned in the legislation should be carefully considered as well as part of the strategy to identify overloaded vehicles. Particularly technologies that can meet the objective criteria in terms of accuracy, cost, etc.