Britain Could Ditch Metric Measurements After Brexit

24 Feb 2017 --- The UK’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary Andrea Leadsom has hinted that Britain could return to using imperial measurements following Brexit. Exactly what that could mean for the food and beverage industry and food manufacturers is not yet clear, but she suggested that after the UK leaves the European Union in 2019, the country’s measurement system would revert to the old way.

The minister was announcing the winners from various schools which took part in a British Food promotional event last year, when she said the government would re-examine labeling rules.

“Once we have left the EU, we will get the opportunity to look at how we can change rules that will be better for the United Kingdom and whether that’s on weights and measures or issues like teaspoons, those are things for the future,” she said.

By exiting the EU, Britain would be free to change its labeling system and manufacturers could go back to using pounds (lbs) and ounces (oz) rather than the metric system which being part of Europe demands. 

At the time when Britain had to change from imperial to metric, there was a huge fallout from consumers who claimed the metric system was confusing and within the food and beverage industry, where companies struggled to convert to grams, kilograms, milliliters or liters when selling packaged or loose goods.

Although imperial measurements can be displayed alongside the metric measurement on packaging, the imperial measurement cannot stand out, as per EU rules. The only exemptions are beer, cider, milk and precious metals which can sold in imperial measures only. 

Leadsom’s comments has re-sparked the debate surrounding measurements and labeling and follows similar comments made by UK Prime Minister Theresa May during her party conference last year. 

“We are going to be a fully independent, sovereign country, a country that is no longer part of a political union with supranational institutions that can override national parliaments and courts,” she said. 

“And that means we are going, once more, to have the freedom to make our own decisions on a whole host of different matters, from how we label our food to the way in which we choose to control immigration.”

Here is the difference between imperial and metric measurements: 1 millimeter (0.039 inch), 1 centimeter (0.394 inch), 1 meter (1.094 yd), 1 kilometer (0.6214 mile), 1 liter (1.76 pints) and 1 kilogram (2.205lb).

One of the main issues with converting is how quantities went down, while prices stayed the same. 

The British Weights and Measures Association is a non-party political organization against compulsory metrication and has been campaigning for a return to an imperial measurements system.

Over the years, especially in the 1990s when UK grocers, small business, wholesalers etc. were getting used to the change, it has highlighted their struggle to convert and how many people in the UK, particularly the older generation, were angered and confused by the metric system. 

It also campaigns on behalf of the so-called “Metric martyrs,” those traders who have been convicted for using pounds and ounces.

by Gaynor Selby