1997 Minnesota Statutes

     239.011 Division responsibilities and powers. 

    Subdivision 1.    Responsibilities.  The division shall: 

    (1) ensure that weights and measures in commercial service 
 within the state are suitable for their intended use, properly 
 installed, accurate, and properly maintained by their owners or 
 users; 

    (2) prevent unfair or deceptive dealing by weight or 
 measure in a commodity or service advertised, packaged, sold, or 
 purchased within the state; 

    (3) make the precision calibration and related metrological 
 certification capabilities of the division available to users of 
 physical standards or weighing and measuring equipment; 

    (4) promote uniformity, to the extent practicable and 
 desirable, between the weights and measures requirements of 
 Minnesota and those of other states and federal agencies; and 

    (5) adopt weights and measures requirements that will 
 protect consumers, promote equity between buyers and sellers, 
 and encourage desirable economic growth. 

    Subd. 2.    Duties and powers.  To carry out the 
 responsibilities in section 239.01 and subdivision 1, the 
 director: 

    (1) shall take charge of, keep, and maintain in good order 
 the standard of weights and measures of the state and keep a 
 seal so formed as to impress, when appropriate, the letters 
 "MINN" and the date of sealing upon the weights and measures 
 that are sealed; 

    (2) has general supervision of the weights, measures, and 
 weighing and measuring devices offered for sale, sold, or in use 
 in the state; 

    (3) shall maintain traceability of the state standards to 
 the national standards of the National Institute of Standards 
 and Technology; 

    (4) shall enforce this chapter; 

    (5) shall grant variances from department rules, within the 
 limits set by rule, when appropriate to maintain good commercial 
 practices or when enforcement of the rules would cause undue 
 hardship; 

    (6) shall conduct investigations to ensure compliance with 
 this chapter; 

    (7) may delegate to division personnel the 
 responsibilities, duties, and powers contained in this section; 

    (8) shall test annually, and approve when found to be 
 correct, the standards of weights and measures used by the 
 division, by a town, statutory or home rule charter city, or 
 county within the state, or by a person using standards to 
 repair, adjust, or calibrate commercial weights and measures; 

    (9) shall inspect and test weights and measures kept, 
 offered, or exposed for sale; 

    (10) shall inspect and test, to ascertain if they are 
 correct, weights and measures commercially used to: 

    (i) determine the weight, measure, or count of commodities 
 or things sold, offered, or exposed for sale, on the basis of 
 weight, measure, or count; and 

    (ii) compute the basic charge or payment for services 
 rendered on the basis of weight, measure, or count; 

    (11) shall approve for use and mark weights and measures 
 that are found to be correct; 

    (12) shall reject, and mark as rejected, weights and 
 measures that are found to be incorrect and may seize them if 
 those weights and measures: 

    (i) are not corrected within the time specified by the 
 director; 

    (ii) are used or disposed of in a manner not specifically 
 authorized by the director; or 

    (iii) are found to be both incorrect and not capable of 
 being made correct, in which case the director shall condemn 
 those weights and measures; 

    (13) shall weigh, measure, or inspect packaged commodities 
 kept, offered, or exposed for sale, sold, or in the process of 
 delivery, to determine whether they contain the amount 
 represented and whether they are kept, offered, or exposed for 
 sale in accordance with this chapter and department rules.  In 
 carrying out this section, the director must employ recognized 
 sampling procedures, such as those contained in National 
 Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 133, "Checking 
 the Net Contents of Packaged Goods"; 

    (14) shall prescribe the appropriate term or unit of weight 
 or measure to be used for a specific commodity when an existing 
 term or declaration of quantity does not facilitate value 
 comparisons by consumers, or creates an opportunity for consumer 
 confusion; 

    (15) shall allow reasonable variations from the stated 
 quantity of contents, including variations caused by loss or 
 gain of moisture during the course of good distribution practice 
 or by unavoidable deviations in good manufacturing practice, 
 only after the commodity has entered commerce within the state; 

    (16) shall inspect and test petroleum products in 
 accordance with this chapter and chapter 296; 

    (17) shall distribute and post notices for used motor oil 
 and used motor oil filters and lead acid battery recycling in 
 accordance with sections 239.54, 325E.11, and 325E.115; 

    (18) shall collect inspection fees in accordance with 
 sections 239.10 and 239.101; and 

    (19) shall provide metrological services and support to 
 businesses and individuals in the United States who wish to 
 market products and services in the member nations of the 
 European Economic Community, and other nations outside of the 
 United States by:  

    (i) meeting, to the extent practicable, the measurement 
 quality assurance standards described in the International 
 Standards Organization ISO 9000, Guide 25; 

    (ii) maintaining, to the extent practicable, certification 
 of the metrology laboratory by a governing body appointed by the 
 European Economic Community; and 

    (iii) providing calibration and consultation services to 
 metrology laboratories in government and private industry in the 
 United States. 

    HIST: 1991 c 198 s 2; 1993 c 369 s 70; 1995 c 220 s 114