My guess is that the Food Marketing Institute is opposed because they fear that the next step will be the mandating of rational metric sizes, and there goes their marketeering game of hiding price increases by shrinking the amount of product in the package.
Carleton -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 19:21 To: U.S. Metric Association Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [USMA:38900] FW: RE: Voluntary metric-only amendment to FPLA and opposition lobbying Forwarding this to the USMA list. I second Ken's advice about contacting businesses to request metric-only labelling. Ezra -------------- Forwarded Message: -------------- From: "Ken Butcher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "'Elizabeth Gentry'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: Voluntary metric-only amendment to FPLA and opposition lobbying Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:06:25 +0000 > No, there hasn't been any effort to conduct studies because it is not really > an issue of widespread public concern. The public currently accepts metric > only in a wide range of products and applications. >The opposition to the FPLA amendment is essentially a carryover from the anti-metric sentiments of > the 1970s and many of the arguments against it simply are specious. Only > the Food Marketing Institute has gone on record as opposing the amendment > while most other trade associations support it. > Another factor is that since 1999 some 48 states have amended their requirements to permit > metric-only labeling and none of those states have reported consumer > complaints about industry having the option to label in metric units. > Hopefully, once the EU announces its decision on its 2010 deadline, we will > be able to show that amending the FPLA will eliminate an ineffective and > unnecessary barrier to metric-only labeling. > > What would help us would be for those interested in metric-only labeling to > ask for it in retail stores and contact the mfgs of the products they buy > and request that products be labeled metric-only. > > ___________________________________________ > > Kenneth S. Butcher > Group Leader > National Institute of Standards and Technology > Weights and Measures Division > Laws and Metric Group > Stop 2600 > Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-2600 > > 301-975-4859 Fax: 301-975-8091 > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.nist.gov/owm > http://www.nist.gov/metric > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 6:49 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Voluntary metric-only amendment to FPLA and opposition lobbying > > Dear Ken, > > I was happy to read on the USMA mailing list that the voluntary metric-only > labelling amendment to the FPLA has been sent again to Commerce for possible > inclusion in the White House's legislative proposals for the next session of > Congress. > > Given the (in my view mostly specious or misguided) opposition to this > amendment that some groups (FMI, for example) have offered in the past, I > was wondering if anyone in the government is aware of any studies that have > been done (either by the GAO, other agencies in the government, or > independent organizations) that have analyzed in a substantive and > methodologically sound way the objections that have been raised by any > industry groups or other organizations to this amendment. > > > Best regards, > > Ezra Steinberg > Technical Writer > Kirkland WA > >
