New Packaged Goods regulations simplifying and tidying up the implementation of the "Average Quantity" Directive came into effect in April 2006, although the old requirements, which were contained in Part V of the 1985 Weights and Measures Act will run alongside them for 12 months to give packers the opportunity to change their processes at a reasonable pace.
The new regulations are indeed simpler than their forerunners. The three Packers rules regarding average quantity allowed minor deficiencies and prohibited major deficiencies are now very clearly spelled out. Also the requirements on the types of weighing or measuring equipment that can be used for making up packages has also been simplified; all the regulations now require is that the packer uses "suitable equipment". This provision still requires the use of type approved and verified equipment but it now allows greater scope of the type of equipment.
One point of confusion has arisen; do packers who use weighing or measuring checking equipment to check packages after packing need to use type approved and verified equipment to do this? The answer is no. They can use type approved and verified equipment if they want, but there is no legal obligation to do so, as checking packages does not come under the definition of Use for Trade in the Weights and Measures Act nor is it a controlled application under the NAWI Directive or the MID.
The regulations can be downloaded from http://www.opsi.gov.uk/stat.htm and Guidance Notes should be available from the DTI web-site, although the site is currently being revamped and access is difficult at the moment.
In case of doubt it should be appreciated that weighing or measuring equipment that was considered suitable under the previous legislation will also be considered as suitable under these regulations, though certain software packages that calculated the various statistical data needed to demonstrate compliance with the requirements may need to be modified. | 
