CECIP Newsletter Q4 2018
CECIP Newsletter Q4 2018
CECIP PRESS RELEASE: EUROPEAN WEIGHING INDUSTRY CALLS FOR STRONGER EU SINGLE MARKET
Brussels, 21 November 2018 - CECIP, the European weighing industry association, called for strengthening of the EU single market during a breakfast organised in the European Parliament that was hosted by Czech MEP Dita Charanzová (ALDE).
MEP Dita Charanzová also opened the breakfast. She supported a strong EU market saying:” The EU single market is important for all sectors. A common market must support the four freedoms, including for services. But as with all legislation, the devil is in the details, and the devil is how we interpret rules and regulations. We need the Commission to ensure existing harmonised standards are respected by national authorities and that the principle of mutual recognition is further extended to services. This means greater market surveillance and renewed offers to reduce national barriers by the Commission.”
Various aspects of a further strengthening of the EU single market for goods and services were discussed during the breakfast. One important area for CECIP is the harmonisation of reverification requirements. During the breakfast CECIP President Urs Widmer explained: “CECIP believes the EU single market is one of the strengths of the European weighing industry. With new initiatives such as a harmonisation of the reverification requirements the competitiveness of the European industry and consumer protection can be improved. Member States and the European Commission are encouraged to work on a further harmonisation of these reverification requirements.”
Mr Stefano Soro, Head of the Biotechnology and Food Supply Chain Unit of European Commission´s DG GROW, responded stressing the importance of legal metrology and the European Single Market. Furthermore, the important point of improved market surveillance was raised during the breakfast. CECIP members consider the placing on the market of non-compliant products as one of the main threats for the European weighing industry. John Derksen from Agentschap Telecom, the organisation responsible for market surveillance in the Netherlands, responded to these points. Moreover, he explained the situation with respect to market surveillance in the Netherlands. Another aspect presented was the need for consistent interpretations of legislation across the whole of the EU. For the weighing industry it is important that the EU legislation is interpreted in a similar manner in all Member States.
Overall, the European weighing industry stressed during the breakfast that strengthening the EU single market via various initiatives will have significant positive effects on competitiveness and consumer protection. CECIP hopes these initiatives can be supported by the European Commission, European Parliament and Member States.
Set harmonised requirements for reverifications
Weighed products move through the whole of the single market without extra controls. For example, a package of crisps can be produced in one country and be distributed all over Europe. Customers buying such a bag in a supermarket should be able to be sure that the weighed value provided is correct.
To get this guarantee, high-quality weighing instruments are needed. National legislation is in force to ensure that the weighing instruments keep functioning correctly during its lifetime. Unfortunately, these national reverification requirements differ significantly between EU Member States, making it more cumbersome to provide cross-border services and not providing the optimal consumer protection.
Harmonisation of these national reverification requirements will be beneficial for the competitiveness of the industry and will improve customer protection. Therefore, CECIP calls on the European Commission and Member States to initiate actions that could result in further harmonisation.
The full position paper can be found here.
GA 2019: 12-15 June Save the date
The 69th CECIP General Assembly will take place from 12 to 15 June in Bratislava. Interested CECIP members are already asked to block these dates in their agenda. More details on the detailed programme and registration will follow soon.
CECIP PRESS RELEASE: Connecting the world of scales
Initial meeting for a universal communication interface
Brussels, 17.10.2018 – The International Weighing Technology Initiative started their project on aiming to achieve standardized communication interface with a first meeting on 16 October. The aim of this initiative is developing and standardizing a communication interface for weighing instruments, making the weighing industry ready for the era of the digitization of industry.
This project was initiated by leading scale manufacturers in conjunction with the VDMA to develop a standardized open and manufacturer-independent interface for weighing instruments in OPC UA format (Open Platform Communication - Unified Architecture). It aims at standardizing the communication of weighing instruments and systems with peripherals and other higher-level devices or systems in the respective manufacturing, research, logistic and sales processes.
The European weighing industry association CECIP and its member companies are key players in the project. CECIP is convinced that this project will ensure connectivity of the weighing industry. International partner associations from Japan, China and USA already showed an interest in the initiative and have been invited to cooperate on the new standard.
The initiative was officially registered with the OPC Foundation, the umbrella organization for the development of interoperability standards for industrial automation, as an international Joint Working Group (JWG) in the middle of this year. Yesterday, 16 October 2018, the JWG started its work. Scientifically support is provided by the University of Stuttgart for the development of the specification. Notified bodies such as Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) have been involved right from the beginning. The first version of the specification is scheduled for release in spring 2019.
The full press release can be found here.
Controls on data transmission need to be kept proportionate as technology evolves
Data collection is becoming more and more important in various fields where weighing instruments are used. In applications from digitalisation of industrial production to food processing, data is used and shared between different machines and instruments. Consequently, it is important that this data transmission - the electronic transfer of data from one device to another - is reliable.
CECIP, the European weighing industry association, believes that, from a legal metrology point of view, there needs to be control of metrologically significant information. However, the level of legally prescribed control should be appropriate.
Controls should strike the right balance
CECIP is convinced that the right balance needs to be found between risk management and the burden of the controls. To find such a balance the following principles should be taken into account:
- Any data transmitted must be correct. Some applications may require verification/validation.
- For metrological processing such as totalising or price calculation performed by a separate system then an alibi device; must be utilised.
- If components of an instrument communicate over an open network, then an appropriate level of security is required to ensure integrity of the data. This may require encryption and authentication.
- The classification of systems should be appropriate bearing in mind the implications due to controls of data transmission. This is particularly relevant when considering the different levels of protection required for communication between components of an instrument and between an instrument and an external system.
CECIP hopes these principles can be followed when for controls defining (essential) requirements in national, European or international standards and legislation.
The full CECIP position paper can be found here.
