Engine Fuels Law to be Changed to Protect Consumers from False Claims

Weights and measures officials in the National Conference on Weights and Measures are expected to adopt revisions to the Uniform Engine Fuels, Petroleum Products, and Automotive Lubricants Inspection Law that would make it illegal to misrepresent the "brand" of a product.

The changes are aimed at protecting consumers from firms that make false claims on their products. The changes to NIST Handbook 130, Uniform Laws and Regulations, will be voted on by delegates to the 81st Annual Meeting of NCWM, July 21-25, 1996, in New Orleans.

NCWM is a standards writing organization of more than 3,500 state, county and city weights and measures officials and associated business, federal and consumer representatives. The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology, a non-regulatory agency of the department's Technology Administration, provides technical support to NCWM through its Office of Weights and Measures.

The recommended changes to NIST Handbook 130 are proposed by the NCWM Laws and Regulations Committee with the cooperation of industry. The proposed changes will make it illegal to misrepresent the American Petroleum Institute's Service Classification and the Society of Automotive Engineers' Number Classification on containers of automotive lubricants such as motor oil.

At the 81st Annual Meeting, delegates also will be asked to vote on a recommendation by the L&R; Committee to adopt revisions to the requirement for labeling of Gasoline-Oxygenate Blends in the Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities. The proposals were submitted to NCWM by the Western and Southern Weights and Measures Associations.

The recommended changes in the method of sale requirements and similar changes in the uniform engine fuels regulation will provide much needed flexibility to gasoline refiners, pipeline and terminal operators, wholesalers and retailers in labeling gasoline-oxygenate blends while helping consumers ensure that the fuels they purchase meet manufacturers' recommendations on the use of oxygenates. Use of fuels containing oxygenates may void some manufacturers' warranties.

For information on the 81st Annual Meeting of the National Conference on Weights and Measures, contact NCWM, P.O. Box 4025, Gaithersburg, Md. 20885, (301) 975-4012, fax: (301) 926-0647, e-mail: owm [at] nist.gov (owm[at]nist[dot]gov) (Internet).