The Measuring Instrument Directive (MID)
Beer Glasses, Petrol Pumps, Taxi Meters …
On 30th April 2004, the European Union published the Measuring Instrument Directive,
Included in this are the taxi meters used by drivers all over the UK.
The new law began its introduction in October 2006 and there is a 10 year transition period for products which were already approved before then. In the case of taxi meters, this means that all new meters must comply with the new rules one way or another:
October 2006 must carry a legal “M” (for MID)
marking, meaning it complies with the MID...
… so, in the UK, if it wasn’t PCO approved before October 2006, or correctly “M”
to a taxi. That’s what the law says. ** By October 2016, all meters must have the “M” mark **
It is clearly very important that we as consumers can rely on the accuracy of the devices used to make measurements, particularly where the payment of money is involved. This is why our beer glasses, petrol pumps, weighing machines and many other instruments are subject to legal controls.
Taxi meters clearly also fall into this category, ie the measurements they make decide how much money is paid for the service of providing transport in a taxi.
Before the MID, each state in Europe had its own local rules for Measuring Instruments. Here in the UK, we had “Weights and Measures” requirements for our beer glasses and petrol pumps, and we had local regulations for taxi meters, including the London based
like other European rules, is designed to
equally across all of the EU states, so this meant that the National Standards needed to be replaced by standards which applied throughout the EC. This is why you will see “M” marks on “Measuring Instruments” all over Europe, including on its taxi meters. The MID actually replaces these National Standards, making, for example, PCO Approval unnecessary for areas outside London.
The Measuring Instrument Directive tells us the important features of Taxi Meters including how they work, how accurate they need to be, and how reliable they need to be. It also tells us how we must ensure that the products we supply (as manufacturers) are up to this standard. The result of following these rules is the “M” mark on the meter, which gives the authorities, taxi operators, and the public the assurance that the meter complies with the law and can be relied upon.
... but how do you know that the mark is legal and correct?
Every MID compliant taxi meter (ie: every taxi meter type put on sale after October 2006) must: “... be supplied with a Declaration of Conformity, which shows how a particular taxi meter (including the serial number) complies with the relevant MID and also any other Directives applying to it...
29
an example of an Aquila T-Tiny+ meter and shows
that the meter complies with all relevant “New
Approach” European Directives.
approval. In this case, the most important part is
There are several ways for a manufacturer to achieve compliance to the MID. Aquila has
Many products sold in Europe have this mark, not just Measuring Instruments - so it is only meaningful if read in conjunction with the Declaration of Conformity.
The Measuring Instrument Directive “M” Mark. This tells you the year of manufacture - 2009 in this case.
Body authorising the mark for this Taxi Meter.
its Quality Management Systems to ensure that they comply with ISO9001:2008 and the additional rules for the MID. This route is covered by “Annex D” of the Directive, and Aquila, for one, has achieved approval to this.
European Parliament and of the Council of 31
March 2004 on measuring instruments can be found on the European Union Law website (http://eur-lex.
europa.eu/) or by visiting the Aquila Electronics Ltd website (
www.aquila-electronics.co.uk) where there is a direct link to the actual document.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40