NCWM Advances ILMA Proposals
The National Conference on Weights and Measures (“NCWM”) concluded its Interim Meeting last week, agreeing to advance ILMA’s proposals on “obsolete oil” and tractor hydraulic fluid labeling to a full NCWM votes this July. If adopted, the proposed amendments would be added to NIST Handbook 130, effective January 1, 2020.
Obsolete Oil Changes
ILMA proposed obsolete oil changes to the motor oil provisions NIST Handbook 130 went through several significant iterations over the past two years. The compromise language being advanced to a full NCWM vote this July will make misleading performance claims illegal and will require the applicable SAE J183, Appendix A cautionary statement for the particular obsolete oil to be moved to the front-facing label of the container.
The Association believes that this labeling change will allow the consumer to see the SAE cautionary statement without having to flip to the back of the container to determine the truthfulness or accuracy of the performance claims being made. In addition, it will make for easier enforcement by local weights and measures officials.
Tractor Hydraulic Fluid (THF) Changes
Handbook 130’s THF provisions took effect on January 1, 2020. ILMA proposed two changes that would accommodate a minimum quality standard under development by an ASTM subcommittee and would set uniform a uniform type size for cautionary statements required on front of containers of certain obsolete THFs.
ILMA’s language on the ASTM THF specification was removed at the Interim Meeting, because members of the ASTM subcommittee said a final standard could take several years to be finalized.
However, ILMA’s proposed labeling language did receive support at the Interim Meeting, and it is being forwarded for a vote by the full NCWM this July. ILMA suggested that the current “clearly legible” cautionary statement on the front label be replaced with specific type sizes set forth by the Consumer Product Safety Commission for Hazardous Materials labeling at 16 CFR §1500.121(c)(2)(i) and (ii). A number of ILMA members reported that they use this federal regulation as a “rule of thumb” for their cautionary statements on containers of products sold at retail.
Next Steps
ILMA will be asking allied industry associations and other groups to support the proposed amendments being advanced to a vote in written submissions to NCWM. At some point, ILMA members may be asked to weigh in with NCWM.