Whoops, looks like the membership in the non-metric club is shrinking.
On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 12:50 PM, Kilopascal <[email protected]> wrote: > ** > Burma moves to adopt the kilogram as the basic unit for commodities trade. > > http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/business/584/biz58401.html > > Ditch the viss, govt urges traders > *By Ko Ko Gyi * > July 18 - 24, 2011 > > THE basket, viss, tin and tical would largely disappear from Myanmar if the > Ministry of Commerce gets its way. > > At a meeting on the development of wholesale centres held in Magwe last > month, participants agreed in principle to the government’s proposal to > adopt the kilogram as the basic unit for commodities trade in all townships. > > If implemented, the kilogram would replace traditional, non-metric > measurements that are used widely in domestic trade. The government is > pushing the change to make foreign trade, which is conducted exclusively in > metric measurements, simpler and bring the country into line with its trade > partners. > > U Kyaw Htoo from the Ministry of Commerce told traders at the June 24 > meeting they should discuss the proposal with “all implementing partners” in > their townships and then present their views at the next meeting, to be held > in Muse, Shan State, in late August or early September. > > Despite agreeing to consider the proposal, traders who participated in the > meeting told The Myanmar Times afterwards they thought there was little > chance of it being implemented in the near future. > > One 30-year-old commodities trader from Magwe said there would be “many > obstacles” and anticipated strong resistance from farmers. > > “It needs to be negotiated with farmers and will definitely take some time > to implement. If there are many objections, how can it be introduced > quickly? If many are willing to support it though, it could be possible,” he > said. > > A beans and pulses trader from Magwe with more than 40 years experience in > the industry agreed producers were unlikely to accept the shift to the > metric system. > > “In the past we couldn’t even shift from using the basket to the viss. Even > today sesame is purchased [from farmers] in Magwe using the basket. When > selling sesame we do so using the viss. Rural people only know the basket > and don’t really accept any other measure. If we try to use a measure they > are not familiar with they think they are being cheated,” he said. > > “If this shift is put into practice right now we would have to use two > different measures: [basket] when and [kilogram] when selling. That’s the > only way we could do it without disrupting trade.” > > However, traders could also prove an obstacle to the changeover. Most use a > scale called a kattar to weigh commodities and would be loathe to replace > all their equipment, said U Kyaw Myint from business information provider > E-Trade Myanmar. > > “A large amount of money would have to be poured into manufacturing new > weighing machines. For the country as a whole, the cost would be very high,” > U Kyaw Myint said. > > “Exporters already use the metric system. But those who do business locally > just use the prevailing means of measure because it is more convenient.” > > Dr Khin Mar Zaw from the Department of Vocational Training, under the > Ministry of Industry 2, said the shift to metric system had been completed > in more than 100 countries after the imposition of a law. She noted that, in > some cases, original measuring units continued to be used for some time – > even indefinitely – after the metric system had been introduced. > > She said the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation had > assisted Cambodia and Laos with metrication under a Mekong Region project > but was not sure if Myanmar would be eligible for assistance. > > Experts from New Zealand had assisted Myanmar in “adapting” the metrication > laws used in these two countries to Myanmar’s “conditions” and a draft > measuring technology law had been submitted to the Ministry of Science and > Technology’s standardisation department during the State Peace and > Development Council government, she said. > > Dr Khin Mar Zaw said she could not reveal the exact contents of the draft > law. > > Myanmar is apparently one of just three countries – along with Liberia and > the United States – that have not yet adopted the International System of > Units, also known as SI, as their legal units of measure. However, many > countries use a combination of metric and non-metric measures. > > – Translated by Thit Lwin >
