SECTIONS 12100-12108 - California Statutes

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE

SECTION 12100-12108

12100. Where not otherwise provided by law, the Department of Food
and Agriculture has general supervision of the weights and measures
and weighing and measuring devices sold or used in the state.

12101. The department shall investigate conditions in the various
counties and cities in respect to weights and measures, and to the
sale of goods, wares and merchandise, commodities and foodstuffs in
containers.

12102. The department shall annually report to the Governor, and
shall prior to each regular session report to the Legislature the
work under this division, and shall make such recommendations as may
be proper and necessary.

12103. The department shall keep a complete record of all of its
acts, a record of prosecutions, and the reports of the various
sealers. These records and reports shall be open to the public.

12103.5. The duty of enforcing this division and carrying out its
provisions and requirements is vested in the director and in each
sealer acting under the supervision and direction of the director.

12104. (a) The department shall issue instructions and make
recommendations to the county sealers, and the instructions and
recommendations shall govern the procedure to be followed by these
officers in the discharge of their duties.
(b) Instructions and recommendations which are made to insure
statewide weights and measures protection shall include a local
administration cost analysis utilizing data provided by the county
sealer. The cost analysis shall identify the joint programs or
activities for which funds necessary to maintain adequate county
administration and enforcement have not been provided. The director
shall develop, jointly with the county sealers, county priorities for
the enforcement programs and activities of the director.
(c) The director shall, upon request, report to the Legislature
his or her findings concerning the cost analysis with specific regard
to programs where funds are inadequate for an efficient enforcement
program, together with a listing of the priorities jointly
established by the director and the county sealers that are contained
in the formal instructions and recommendations.

12104.5. The director may allocate annually to each county an
amount determined by the director not to exceed one-third of the
amount expended by the county pursuant to this division during the
previous fiscal year for weights and measures programs. The
allocation shall be made from funds appropriated to the director for
the administration and enforcement of this division at the local
level.

12105. The department shall, at a frequency determined by the
director, inspect the work of the local sealers and may inspect the
weights, measures, balances or any other weighing or measuring
devices of any person.

12106. The department shall, at least once annually and as often as
requested by the Department of General Services or the executive
officer of a state institution, test the scales, weights and measures
used in checking the receipt and disbursement of supplies in any
state institution, and shall report in writing its findings to the
executive officer of the institution concerned.

12106.5. The director may accept the testing and sealing of
weighing and measuring devices by another state upon a finding that
the requirements of California for testing and sealing such devices
have been met.

12107. The director shall establish tolerances and specifications
and other technical requirements for commercial weighing and
measuring. In doing so, the director shall adopt, by reference, the
latest standards as recommended by the National Conference on Weights
and Measures and published in the National Institute of Standards
and Technology Handbook 44 "Specifications and Tolerances, and other
Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices," except as
specifically modified, amended, or rejected by regulation adopted by
the director.
The director may, by regulation, establish tolerances and
specifications for commercial weighing and measuring devices not
included in Handbook 44.
Any regulation shall be adopted, amended, or repealed in
conformity with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any of the rules,
regulations, tolerances, specifications, or standards established
under this section.

12107.1. The director, by regulation, may establish a standard or
standards of net weight or net measure, or net count of any
commodity, except any manufactured commodity consisting of four or
more staple ingredients. These standards, whenever applicable, shall
be based upon published, official federal or state specifications and
requirements or, in the absence of any such published official
specifications, upon established and accepted common usage. Any
regulation shall be adopted, amended, or repealed in conformity with
the provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part
1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
Whenever a standard, net weight, net measure, or net count has
been established for any commodity, it is unlawful to sell the
commodity by, at, or for a quantity greater or less than the
standard.

12108. The director may arrange for the services of a sealer
employed in a county on a collaborative basis and allow reasonable
compensation and expenses for the purpose of performing services not
already within his duties and which are subject to administration or
enforcement by the department under the provisions of this code or of
the Agricultural Code.