Support for the Metric Only Update of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act

Support for the Metric Only
Update of the Fair Packaging and
          Labeling Act

            MARK HENSCHEL
  INSTRUCTOR-MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT
           MADISON COLLEGE
          MADISON, WISCONSIN
    MHENSCHEL@MADISONCOLLEGE.EDU

• The two main reasons the FPLA should be updated to legalize
  the use of metric-only package labeling in the USA are:
• 1) Benefits to international trade and US business abroad
• 2) Benefits to science and math education in the American
  educational system

ABOUT ME

• First introduced to the Metric System in 1960 while doing
  research on another topic
• Over 40 years of teaching experience, including:
• 7 years teaching shop classes in metric units only
• 2 weeks teaching 7th grade girls to cook in the Metric System
• Years of experience doing metric projects in various math
  classes in Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin

Teaching and learning in the Metric
System
• All measuring instruments in my plastic shop were made in
  the USA by Starrett and Stanley Tool Company
• (Costs were already covered in the school budget for
  supplies.)
• These are American companies making products in metric
  units
• Measuring devices to cook were already dual dimensioned, I
  only needed to cover over the inch-pound designations to get
  students to cook using metric only measurements.
• Oven temperature scale was changed using a tape overlay that
  was written in Celsius degrees.
• Thus, the conversion cost was actually free!

BENEFITS OF METRICATION FOR
 INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND
     US EXPORT BUSINESS

How Metrication will help US
business
• During WWII US business was the major exporting power in
  the world
• Now foreign customers demand metric goods
• The US could use the economy of scale to make metric only
  goods and export them to emerging markets, for example:
• If we used A4 paper, we could make it for domestic use and
  also export to all other countries on the planet.

• Costs associated with metrication are miniscule or non
  existent
• Every time companies have kept track of metrication costs,
  they have been much less than anticipated
• GM discovered it cost more money to keep track of the costs
  of metrication than it did to go metric
• When the metric helicopter was designed, the additional cost
  of metrication was only .24 percent, or less than one fourth of
  one percent
• Thus it does not cost to go metric, it pays

BENEFITS OF METRICATION FOR
    SCIENCE AND MATH
   EDUCATION IN THE USA

US Science Education and
Metrication
• US students often not introduced to metric units until they
  reach science or nursing classes in high school or college
• US suffers from a lack of scientifically trained professionals
  and has to import math and science teachers from overseas
• Dual labeling leads to confusion as students do not have a
  “feel” for how big something is in metric units.

Consequences of conversion
mistakes
• Doctors and health professionals make mistakes in dosage,
  often resulting in incorrect doses as they have no “feel” for
  how much someone should weigh.
• Mistakes in conversions for fuel required for aircraft resulted
  in near crash of passenger jet in Canada
• Mistakes in conversions resulted in loss of Mars Orbiter and
  millions of dollars in taxpayer money.

Benefits of Metric Only Package
Labeling
• Customers will get familiar with sizes of metric units, resulting
  of acceptance of metric units in news and weather reports
• US companies will be able to export products to metric only
  markets
• Students at all grade levels will become familiar with metric
  sizes used in everyday life
• No conversion means health professionals are less likely to
  make mistakes in dosages

REQUEST FOR THE US
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Support the metric only update of
the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act
• Update would allow, but not require the use of metric only
  package labels in the USA
• No change in package sizes would be required by the
  legislation
• US companies would be allowed to use any package sizes that
  help them compete in international markets
• Companies may find one package label design that may meet
  the import requirements of many countries, especially if the
  (–re) English language spelling is allowed on US package labels
• This leads to the economy of scale and the decrease in
  production costs

• Ask the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade
  Commission to support the use of NIST standard 130
• Only about 20 words of change in the FPLA would be needed
  to make metric only package labeling legal in the USA
• Allowing retail outlets to calculate prices by grams or milliliters
  makes comparison of product prices easier for the consumer

• I appreciate the opportunity to offer my input to the US
  Chamber of Commerce
• A recent online Whitehouse petition obtained 37,000
  signatures from US citizens who want the USA to go metric.
• These were obtained in only 30 days
• If we had time to do a proper survey (similar to the one done
  by Maurice Stans in the Nixon Administration), the numbers of
  US citizens who support US metrication would number in the
  millions.

Citizens are often ahead of
politicians
• Allowing the use of more metric units in the everyday lives of
  US citizens is the right thing to do.
• Our employment numbers would increase as we produce
  more metric products we can export
• Our children will do better in science and math classes that
  already use metric units
• Change is a normal process, and our citizens will get used to
  using the new units in their everyday lives as we have already
  accepted computers, cell phones and digital television.

Small piece of legislation, big
effects
• This metric only update of the FPLA would be a tiny change in
  legislation.
• Yet this legislation, coupled with increased metric instruction
  in our schools could help our country for generations to come.
• I respectfully ask the US Department of Commerce to support
  the metric only labeling update of the FPLA.
• Thank you very much