2003-01-19 American and any other non-metric unit is illegal in the Netherlands as far as selling by it are concerned. Using a non-legal unit on a package in itself is not illegal provided a legal unit does appear. Action is only taken if the contents do not match those stated by the legal unit.
If a container stated the contents as 1 gallon (1 litre), which we know is wrong, would be ok in the Netherlands (for now - until 2010). If the actual contents is only 1 litre, then the authorities are satisfied because the legal unit is in agreement with the contents. Since the gallon is not a legal unit, it may still be present, but its declaration is ignored in countries where it is not legal. If someone goes to a market and asks for a pound and the vendor gives him 600 g, no cheating has taken place. Because the pound is not a legal unit, its value can be set by anyone to any value. The use of non-legal, as opposed to illegal, units poses a problem for the user. Since such units are not legal, the user has no legal recourse in the event he/she was not given an amount equal to what the user perceived the amount to be. There is no cheating as cheating only can occur if a legal unit is misrepresented. This could happen in the UK, if and when the authorities de-legalise FFU. They may never make them illegal, but they can still make them non-legal. The difference is that when a unit is illegal it can not be used. And when it is, a punishment is enacted upon the user(s). When a unit is non-legal it means it may be allowed to be used, not in legal trade, but in colloquial speech. In this case, the user is at risk if the unit is deliberately misinterpreted. The user thus has no legal recourse or protection. The moral being, use only legal units. Thus one is protected by law. John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Terry Simpson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 2003-01-19 12:43 Subject: [USMA:24515] Re: Dollar stores > >Of Han Maenen > > > >American units are never legal here, > > Let us define our terms. Here is my terminology: > > 1. All things are either legal or illegal. > > 2. Anything that is not legal is illegal. > > 3. Anything that is not illegal is legal. > > 4. Nothing can be legal and illegal at the same time. > > > If American units are 'never legal' in NL, then they are (by my definition) > illegal. Therefore some law enforcement action would be justified. However, > I take it that you are using 'never legal' according to a different > definition. > > > >I think that on cosmetics products from Estee Lauder sold in the > >UK you will also see the US fl. oz, the French abbreviation for > >that unit OZ LIQ, followed by mL. > > Can you give me a few common Estee Lauder products for me to check? >
