UK Edition
Ministers 'should let traders sell groceries in pounds and ounces' in wake of Brexit vote
Ministers are under pressure to allow shops to sell meat, fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces ahead of Britain leaving the European Union.
Customers have been asking shop owners if they can have groceries weighed in pounds and ounces rather than grams and kilograms ahead of Brexit.
The British Weights and Measures Association said that “one or two” shops had been in contact every week since the June 23 referendum asking if they can sell produce in imperial measurements.
It said that this figure was likely “the tip of a much bigger iceberg”.
The law only permits the sale of foods and goods in kilograms and grams, but retailers are free to display imperial units alongside as a conversion.
This “supplementary indication” - which cannot be in writing bigger than the metric price - is not allowed to form part of the transaction process.
The requirement to display in metric should end when Britain repeals the European Communities Act 1972 and formally leaves the European Union.
A number were convicted for having weighing scales that had only imperial measurements.
Warwick Cairns, a spokesman for the association, said: "In 2000, to comply with European legislation, the Government made it a criminal act for a greengrocer to sell a pound of bananas.
"We thought this was outrageous then. We think it outrageous now. And with our exit from the EU, the legal basis of compulsory metrication will be repealed. We believe it's now time to restore freedom of choice."
Peter Bone, a Eurosceptic Tory MP, said the Government should allow shops and customers to buy and sell in imperial measurements well ahead of a possible Brexit in 2017.
He said: “I always have to translate everything back into pounds and ounces anyway.
“Given that our biggest trading partner by a mile – the United States – is still on imperial measurements it has always been silly that we have had to just do it in metric.
“It makes a lot of sense for people to be able to ask to have products in pounds and ounces – it makes sense and is one of the advantages of coming out of the EU.
“That is one of those things that can be implemented now so that when we actually pull out it is a smooth process.”
Mr Bone, who is writing to International Trade Secretary Liam Fox to urge him to back the plans, added: “I think it is a first class idea and I hope the Government embraces it.”
Sir Bill Cash, another Eurosceptic Conservative MP, said retailers should be able to sell produce in both metric and imperial. He said: “Any idea of prosecuting somebody in those circumstances would be insane.”
Tim Loughton MP, a Eurosceptic former Tory minister,said: “I am sure that those more independent-minded grocers and butchers will advertise the price in pounds and kilos and be able to do so.
After Britons voted to leave the European Union on June 23, Gratton's Butchers in Barnstaple, Devon, started offering customers the choice of pounds and ounces or grams and kilograms.
A Government spokesman said: “Businesses can already use imperial units alongside metric, or on their own for draught beer and cider, bottled milk and road traffic signs.
“This is national legislation and there has been no change to the law since the referendum result.”
Sources said there were “significant cost benefits for UK businesses from having a single, consistent set of measurement units. It also makes life easier for consumers”.
The source said: “Metric is the system used by international trade. We are committed to ensuring the UK remains open for business and continues to grow and thrive.
“The original decision to adopt metric was taken in 1965 – before the UK joined the EU."