JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS made known to the buyer. It lays down several ways in which this can be done, for example, by weighing or measuring the goods in the presence of the purchaser, by delivering a statement of quantity on an invoice, or by marking the goods themselves with a statement of quantity. Furthermore any equipment or apparatus used for weighing or measur- ing which is in "use for trade" or any unit of measurement of length, area, volume, capacity, mass or weight, also used for the same purpose comes under the Act (1). This means that it (equipment, weights, measures, etc.) has to be tested, approved and stamped by the Board of Trade and it is subject to periodic checks by an officer of the local Weights and Measures Authority. In this connection the term "use for trade" means use in Great Britain in connection with, or with a view to, a transaction for - (a) the transferring or rendering of money or money's worth in considera- tion of money or money's worth, or (b) the making of a payment in respect of any toll or duty, where - (i) the transaction is by reference to quantity or is a transaction for the purposes of which there is made or implied a statement of the quantity of goods to which the transaction relates and (ii) the use is for the purpose of the determination or statement of that quantity. There are some 14 types of measuring and weighing equipment detailed and specified with regards to their construction, materials of construction and limits of error (2). There are similar regulations covering the instruments and weights to be used by Weights and Measures Officers and here the permitted errors are generally much smaller (3). It is of interest to note here that the imperial standards ceased to exist with the passing of the Weights and Measures Act (1963). For example the pound is defined as 0.45359237kg exactly and the yard as 0.9144 m exactly and, for good measure, the international metre is defined as the length equal to 1,650,763.73 wavelengths in vacuum of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the levels 2p 10 and 5d 5 of the krypton - 86 atom. It must be a very comforting thought to a production line inspector to realise that he only has to divide this by 50 to arrive at the 20 mm level below the neck to which his bottles should be filled. All prepacked containers, except those specially exempt, must be marked in accordance with the Act, which defines certain information regarding the method of marking, size of figures and characters, type of background used for the declaration, units which may be used and their permitted abbreviations (4, 5). There are special regulations covering

INFLUENCE OF THE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ACT ON PACKAGING 33 aerosol packs and all soaps, except liquid soap, specifying that the total fill shall be given in terms of weight only. Liquid soap shall be specified in terms of a capacity measurement only. All other cosmetic and toiletry products may be declared in terms of either weight or volume (6). Within the terms of the Act, any authorised officer may, within his own area and at all reasonable times, inspect and test instruments, and weights and measures "used for trade", and also check any prepacked goods within the provisions of the Act and he may enter premises for these purposes. These premises do, of course, include manufacturing units, warehouses, and retail outlets but not vehicles on a highway (7). He must also investigate any complaints laid before his office. There is no laid down frequency for visits and inspections by local officers, but an annual visit is regarded as a desirable minimum. It is believed, however, that this is only being achieved in about 40ø//0 of the premises liable for inspection, but this figure will vary considerably from area to area and in the case of manufacturing establish- ments visits more frequently than once a year are normal. Exemptions There are a number of reasons exempting goods from coming within the terms of the Act. For instance the term "use for trade" does not apply where: - (a) the determination or statement is a determination or statement of the quantity of goods required for despatch to a destination outside Great Britain and any designated country and (b) the transaction is not a sale by retail and (c) no transfer or rendering of money or money's worth is involved other than the passing of the title to the goods and the consideration thereof. This section also exempts the labelling of goods intended only for sale to H.M. forces, or a visiting force, or for use only as stores in a ship or aircraft on a voyage or flight to an eventual destination outside the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man (8). It is fairly obvious here that it is in order not to mark with a contents declaration goods intended for export only. It would also appear to be reasonably safe not to mark free samples, especially if they are labelled with some suitable wording as "Free sample - Not for retail sale". But what if they should be sold? And what of toiletry packs sold at a low price for use in salons which are invariably marked "Not for retail sale", but which can be purchased in most street markets? The safe way here would