The real problem is "While many countries mandate the use of the metric system by law, the U.S. Congress has repeatedly passed laws that encourage voluntary adoption of the metric system." NIST is apparently constrained by this and can't advocate a non-voluntary position. However, the President CAN and doing so is called leadership. However, by having NIST write this response, it is clear that he isn't going to, and the matter will die with this response.
NIST has been tweaking wording for permissive-metric-only since 1997 trying to appease FMI. It is clear as long as anyone (read FMI) is opposed, Commerce is NOT taking this to Congress for an up or down vote. The only way this will get to Congress is if the EU makes it an issue in free trade negotiations or some of our trading partners threaten to take it to the WTO. It might be hard to explain why the US REQUIRES the net contents to be labeled in the non-preferred units of measure. It probably discriminates against small foreign firms as their cost of compliance with an unnecessary law would tend to be a larger percentage of the revenue from exports to the US. Large firms already have a hoard of lawyers who can research compliance with unfamiliar net contents requirements. ________________________________ From: Metric Rules Info <i...@metricrules.org> To: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Cc: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Fri, May 24, 2013 6:45:22 PM Subject: [USMA:52808] Re: FW: Petition Response: Supporting American Choices on Measurement "So choose to live your life in metric if you want, and thank you" To me the above quote says it all. They consider this a preference issue, like should I wear a red shirt today or a blue shirt? They do not understand the negative impact in education and overall national competitiveness this institutionalized "choice" is causing. The FPLA part was encouraging as well as the acknowledgement that metric (SI) is the universal language of STEM. Perhaps one day they will make the link between measurement and STEM occupations! Sent from my iPhone On May 24, 2013, at 4:50 PM, derryod...@yahoo.com wrote: I'm not quite sure what to make of this. It's a pathetic response if I may be honest > > >Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPhone > > > ________________________________ From: The White House <i...@messages.whitehouse.gov>; >To: <derryod...@yahoo.com>; >Subject: Petition Response: Supporting American Choices on Measurement >Sent: Fri, May 24, 2013 9:27:11 PM > > > > >Supporting American Choices on Measurement >By Patrick D. Gallagher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and >Technology and Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology >Thanks for your petition. >There’s a lot of history here. Right after the Civil War, President Andrew >Johnson signed legislation that made it "lawful throughout the United States >of >America to employ the weights and measures of the metric system in all >contracts, dealings or court proceedings." In 1875, the United States was one >of >the original 17 nations to sign the Treaty of the Metre. Since the 1890s, U.S. >customary units (the mile, pound, teaspoon, etc.) have all been defined in >terms >of their metric equivalents. >So contrary to what many people may think, the U.S. uses the metric system now >to define all basic units used in commerce and trade. At the same time, if the >metric system and U.S. customary system are languages of measurement, then the >United States is truly a bilingual nation. >We measure distance in miles, but fiber optic cable diameter in millimeters. >We >weigh deli products in pounds, but medicine in milligrams. We buy gasoline by >the gallon, but soda comes in liter-size bottles. We parcel property in acres, >but remote sensing satellites map the Earth in square meters. >While many countries mandate the use of the metric system by law, the U.S. >Congress has repeatedly passed laws that encourage voluntary adoption of the >metric system. We use a mixture of metric and customary units depending on the >context. We also have a long tradition of voluntary standards and our >bilingual >system of measurement is part of that tradition. >The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology >(NIST), >the agency I direct, was specifically tasked by Congress to help businesses >and >federal agencies adopt use of metric units. >The NIST Metric Program provides manufacturers and exporters with the >information about the metric system they need to sell U.S. goods abroad. And >it >helps distribute resources for educators who are teaching the metric system in >their classrooms. That responsibility is growing as more students look to >careers in science, technology, engineering, and math, where metric is >universal. >Since the 1970s, all American schools have taught the metric system. Many >federal agencies use metric routinely, and the U.S. military does so almost >exclusively. Moreover, since Congress updated the Fair Packaging and Labeling >Act in 1992, most consumer products in this country are labeled in both metric >and U.S. customary units. So-called dual-unit labeling has helped consumers >become familiar with using metric units. >NIST is currently working to make it possible for manufacturers to label their >products with metric units only (.pdf) if they choose to do so because it will >reduce their costs or improve their international competitiveness. >Ultimately, the use of metric in this country is a choice and we would >encourage >Americans to continue to make the best choice for themselves and for the >purpose >at hand and to continue to learn how to move seamlessly between both systems. >In our voluntary system, it is the consumers who have the power to make this >choice. So if you like, “speak” metric at home by setting your digital scales >to >kilograms and your thermometers to Celsius. Cook in metric with liters and >grams >and set your GPS to kilometers. >We were thrilled to see this petition from “We the People” succeed. Feedback >like this from consumers shows everyone from policymakers to businesses how >important having this choice is to Americans. >So choose to live your life in metric if you want, and thank you for signing on. >Tell us what you think about this response and We the People. >Stay Connected >Stay connected to the White House by signing up for periodic email updates >from >President Obama and other senior administration officials. > > Facebook Twitter YouTube Flickr Google+ > > This email was sent to derryod...@yahoo.com >Sign Up for Updates from the White House >Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy >Please do not reply to this email. Contact the White House > >The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • >202-456-1111 > >
