The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has advised traders to use accurate scales to transact business with customers to ensure value for money.
The Authority has expressed its commitment to standardized trading on the market to promote fair trade for consumers.
Mr John Danquah, the Acting Head of the Metrology Department, GSA, said this in Accra at a market sensitization to celebrate World Metrology Day, which was on May 20.
The day is set aside to celebrate Metrologists and ensure that all measurements are reliable and accurate.
The programme is on the theme: ‘Measurement Supporting the Global Food System.’
He said the Authority had engaged extensively with the formal sector, including the cocoa industry and pumps at the fuel stations, to ensure that the right measurements were used in their field of operations.
‘We have made a lot of progress in the formal sector, and we are engaging with the traditional market to see how best we can help them promote accurate weight and measurement,’ he said.
He said, ‘For instance, the public should be able to know how many kilogrammes are in one ‘Olonka’ or how many margarine cups make one ‘Olonka’.
Mr Danquah was excited about the cooperation from the traders, especially the butchers, stating that the Authority would intensify its exercise of? verifying and calibrating the scales and ensuring they conformed to standards.
He said that per the rules of the Authority, every six months the Authority was to conduct verification of scales to ensure that the devices met the required standards.
Mr Danquah encouraged customers to buy their food items from traders using the weight and measure with the GSA mark on the device to ensure fair trade.
Mr Iddi Issa, Chairman of the Greater Accra Butchers Association, commended the initiative of the Authority, saying, ‘For us as butchers, we used the right scale to measure our goods for customers.’
‘As Chairman of the Association, I check the scale every morning to ensure that it is working well before trading begins and that anybody that goes contrary is suspended,’ he said.
He encouraged authorities to expand the exercise to other traders to ensure a holistic standardization of the system.
Source: Ghana News Agency