The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) Legal Metrology Service is responsible for the implementation of the Metrology Acts 1980-1996 and related Regulations. It does this through certifying and inspecting measurement instruments and the quantities of pre-packaged products. A wide range of measuring instruments, including weighing instruments used in meat plants, are subject to legal metrological control when used for trade purposes.
The Metrology Act 1996 and associated Regulations provide that only nationally approved instruments or instruments that have undergone European conformity assessment and bear the CE mark can be used for trade. The primary responsibility for design approval and conformity assessment rests with the manufacturer. The trader is obliged to ensure that only such a measuring instrument is used for trade and that it is correct and verified at all times.
In order to ensure sufficient resources are available for traders to keep their instruments in compliance, NSAI Legal Metrology has authorised private operators, under section 12 of the Metrology Act 1996 and subject to specific conditions, to undertake verifications at the request of the instrument owner. To monitor compliance, NSAI Legal Metrology Inspectors, operating out of seven offices countrywide, carry out inspections at meat plants on the basis of risk-based enforcement.
During 2016, 2017 and 2018, Legal Metrology did not receive any complaints in relation to the suspected use of non-compliant weighing instruments used for trade purposes in meat plants.
Inspections will be ongoing in this sector throughout 2019.
2018 Meat Plant Visits
Table 1. 2018 Visit Dates & Locations
Inspection Date
|
Trader Name
|
15-Oct-18
|
LIFFEY MEATS
|
23-Oct-18
|
ENNIS ABATTOIR
|
15-Aug-18
|
STAUNTON FOODS LTD.
|
11-Oct-18
|
DAWN MEATS
|
13-Mar-18
|
DAWN MEATS
|
08-Nov-18
|
C&J MEATS
|
24-Sep-18
|
DAWN MEATS
|
22-Jun-18
|
DAWN MEATS
|
09-Oct-18
|
CAROLAN'S BUTCHERS
|
12-Feb-18
|
DAWN MEATS
|
21-Mar-18
|
DAWN MEATS
|
22-Aug-18
|
IRISH COUNTRY MEATS
|
26-Oct-18
|
IRISH COUNTRY MEATS
|
20-Mar-18
|
ABP CLONES
|
28-Nov-18
|
ABP CLONES
|
29-Nov-18
|
ABP CLONES
|
05-Jul-18
|
KEPAK MEATS LTD.
|
06-Nov-18
|
COURTNEY MEATS
|
18-Jun-18
|
LIFFEY MEATS LTD.
|
23-Oct-18
|
KEPAK
|
12-Jun-18
|
KEPAK LTD.
|
06-Apr-18
|
KEPAK LTD.
|
27-Apr-18
|
ANGLO IRISH BEEF PROCESSORS
|
07-Nov-18
|
FOYLE DONEGAL
|
25-Oct-18
|
ASHBOURNE MEAT PROCESSERS LTD.
|
28-May-18
|
DAWN MEATS
|
29-May-18
|
ABP
|
24-Oct-18
|
CLONMORE MEATS
|
19-Nov-18
|
ROSDERRA IRISH MEATS
|
30-Nov-18
|
ABP RATHKEALE
|
22-May-18
|
ABP RATHKEALE
|
22-Oct-18
|
LUNDY MEATS
|
08-Oct-18
|
DUNLEAVY MEATS
|
02-Oct-18
|
HOGAN TURKEYS LTD.
|
25-Oct-18
|
HOGAN TURKEYS LTD.
|
18-Apr-18
|
CUNNIFFE BACON COMP. LTD.
|
07-Mar-18
|
ABP IRELAND
|
11-Oct-18
|
ABP IRELAND
|
15-Jan-18
|
ABP IRELAND
|
28-May-18
|
ABP
|
12-Jul-18
|
ABP
|
04-Jul-18
|
ABP
|
08-Jun-18
|
IRISH COUNTRY MEATS
|
13-Nov-18
|
IRISH COUNTRY MEATS
|
08-Jun-18
|
IRISH COUNTRY MEATS
|
16-Apr-18
|
SLANEY FOODS
|
21-May-18
|
SANDYFORD MEATS LTD.
|
30-May-18
|
KEPAK
|
09-Jun-18
|
KEPAK
|
49 meat plants were visited by Legal Metrology Inspectors during 2018 with the following instrument types inspected: weighbridge, platform scales, bench scales and overhead tracks. Of the 327 instruments inspected, 74 failed (an instrument may have more than one failure), and two were removed from trade use as they were operating outside the legal tolerance and did not re-enter trade use until the non-compliance was addressed by an NSAI Authorised Verifier. The remaining failures were considered minor and the instruments were allowed to remain in trade use for up to 20 days, during which time the non-compliance was addressed by an Authorised Verifier
Table 2. 2018 Detected Non-Compliance
No. of Failures
|
Failure Reason
|
15
|
Never Verified
|
1
|
Within + 10% excess of Maximum Permissible Error (MPE)
|
2
|
> -10% (deficiency) of MPE
|
4
|
Incorrect or Missing Descriptive Marks
|
4
|
Other non-conformity
|
56
|
Repaired, altered or adjusted (On inspection a seal has been found to be no longer intact due to either a repair, alteration or adjustment since last verification took place)
|
2017 Meat Plant Visits
Table 3. 2017 Visit Dates and Locations
Inspection Date
|
Trader Name
|
06-Apr-17
|
LIFFEY MEATS
|
12-Jun-17
|
LIFFEY MEATS
|
15-Aug-17
|
DIVILLY'S QUALITY FOOD PRODUCTS
|
05-Sep-17
|
EMERALD ISLE FOODS
|
01-Dec-17
|
JENNINGS MEATS
|
15-Feb-17
|
KEPAK
|
10-May-17
|
KEPAK
|
28-Nov-17
|
ROSDERRA MEATS
|
06-Oct-17
|
FOYLE DONEGAL
|
07-Sep-17
|
O'GORMAN MEATS
|
07-Jul-17
|
ROSDERRA
|
09-Oct-17
|
OLIVER CARTY LTD.
|
28-Nov-17
|
ASHBOURNE MEATS
|
13-Dec-17
|
ABP
|
03-Apr-17
|
DAWN MEATS
|
14-Mar-17
|
DUNBIA
|
29-Aug-17
|
IRISH COUNTRY MEATS
|
06-Sep-17
|
KAVANAGH MEATS
|
09-Mar-17
|
SANDYFORD MEATS LTD.
|
29-Aug-17
|
KEPAK
|
28-Aug-17
|
KEPAK
|
21 meat plants were visited by Legal Metrology Inspectors during 2017 with the following instrument types inspected: weighbridge, platform scales, bench scales and overhead tracks. Of the 93 instruments inspected, 17 failed (an instrument may have more than one failure) and two were removed from trade use as they were operating outside the legal tolerance and did not re-enter trade use until the non-compliance was addressed by an NSAI Authorised Verifier. The remaining failures were considered minor and the instruments were allowed to remain in trade use for up to 20 days, during which time the non-compliance was addressed by an Authorised Verifier.
Table 4. 2017 Detected Non-Compliance
No. of Failures
|
Failure Reason
|
2
|
> -10% (deficiency) of MPE
|
3
|
Never Verified
|
2
|
Incorrect or Missing Descriptive Marks
|
12
|
Repaired, altered or adjusted
|
1
|
Within + 10% excess of MPE
|
2016 Meat Plant Visits
Table 5. 2016 Visit Dates & Locations
Inspection Date
|
Trader Name
|
21-Sep-16
|
SEÁN LOUGHNANE (GALWAY)
|
09-Feb-16
|
BALLON MEATS LTD.
|
29-Aug-16
|
STAUNTON FOODS LTD.
|
13-May-16
|
DAWN MEATS
|
03-Aug-16
|
GREEN PASTURES MEAT PROCESSORS LTD.
|
02-Jun-16
|
DAWN MEATS
|
24-Aug-16
|
DAWN MEATS
|
13-Dec-16
|
JENNINGS MEATS
|
20-Sep-16
|
ROSDERRA MEATS
|
23-Mar-16
|
COURTNEY MEATS
|
23-Sep-16
|
FOYLE DONEGAL
|
29-Nov-16
|
QK MEATS LTD.
|
05-Dec-16
|
QK MEATS LTD.
|
17-Jun-16
|
ABP
|
23-Aug-16
|
ABP
|
05-Aug-16
|
ROSDERRA IRISH MEATS
|
06-Sep-16
|
KEPAK LTD.
|
04-Nov-16
|
KEPAK LTD.
|
26-Jul-16
|
LUNDY MEATS
|
11-Mar-16
|
DUNLEAVY MEATS
|
29-Nov-16
|
DUNLEAVY MEATS
|
31-May-16
|
DUNLEAVY MEATS
|
04-Nov-16
|
ABP IRELAND
|
09-Feb-16
|
IRISH COUNTRY MEATS
|
09-Feb-16
|
SLANEY FOODS
|
06-Oct-16
|
DUBLIN PRODUCTS LTD.
|
26 meat plants were visited by Legal Metrology Inspectors during 2016 with the following instrument types inspected: weighbridge, platform scales and overhead tracks. Of the 71 instruments inspected, 15 failed and one was removed from trade use as it was operating outside the legal tolerance and did not re-enter trade use until the non-compliance was addressed by an NSAI Authorised Verifier. The remaining failures were considered minor and the instruments were allowed to remain in trade use for up to 20 days, during which time the non-compliance was addressed by an Authorised Verifier.
Table 6. 2016 Detected Non-Compliance
No. of Failures
|
Failure Reason
|
4
|
Never Verified
|
1
|
> +10% (excess) of MPE
|
9
|
Repaired, altered or adjusted
|
1
|
Within - 10% excess of MPE
|