Inspection of the pre-packages
Independent and professional inspections of the actual products quantities in the pre-packages
Upon the packagers’ orders, Slovak Legal Metrology performs independent and professional inspections of the actual products quantities in the pre-packages by the reference statistical method in accordance with Ordinance No 207/2000 Coll. as later amended. The purpose of these inspections is to confirm the correctness and effectiveness of the operation controls of the products contents in pre-packages, carried out by packagers.
According to the §21 of Act No 157/ 2019 Coll. on metrology as later amended (hereinafter referred to as “Law”) the pre-package is the product intended for sale put into the package in the absence of the final consumer. The specified value of the quantity of product contained in the package and marked on the package shall correspond to the predetermined nominal value, and cannot be altered without opening the packing material or its perceptible modification.
Currently, the pre-package as a whole, consisting of the product and package in which the product is wrapped may be put on the market by a packager or an importer in accordance with:
- Ordinance of UNMS SR 207/2000 Coll., and to label it by the “e” mark, provided that the pre-package satisfies the requirements of Law, including the requirement on the quantity of product,
- Ordinance of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the SR 127/2012 Coll. § 5, clause 3: “The declared quantity of food must be observed during the packing process. In case of the packed food not marked with the symbol “e” there are not permitted any negative deviations from the declared quantity.”
According to §22 of Law, the packager or importer are responsible for the quantity of product in the package (hereinafter referred only to as “actual content”). The packager or the importer shall assure the measuring the product quantity in any of the “e” marked pre-package, or arrange the statistical control of the actual contents in pre-packages. These requirements are considered to be met when packager or importer perform the operation control by a manner assuring the observance of the permitted deviations of the actual content from the nominal product quantity and when they keep documents containing results of the controls carried out in order to confirm that the check up and necessary corrections and set up of dosing or filling equipment were performed correctly.