Chapter 06 — Weights and Measures

The rule codified in this article is adopted under the authority of 27.0605 (3) and (15) ASCA. History: Rule 7-76, eff 19 act 76, § 1.

This article shall apply to all weighing and measuring devices that are commercially used or susceptible of commercial usage within the territory, except: (1) weighing and measuring devices used by the ASG; (2) weighing and measuring devices used by the federal government; and (3…

As used in this article : (1) “accurate” means a piece of equipment that meets the performance or value within the applicable tolerances and other performance requirements; (2) “commercially used”, “commercial usage”, and “commercial use” means both retail and wholesale transacti…

(a) Any person who sells or intends to purchase any weighing and measuring device for commercial use shall first inquire at the weights and measures branch to determine the suitability of the device for the intended use as approved by the director. (b) A hanging spring dial scale…

Weighing and measuring devices that are approved for suitability by the director shall be accurate and correct. History: Rule 7-76, eff 19 act 76, § 5; and Rule 4-87. eff 21 Apr 87.

The director shall within 90 days after 1 Oct of each year, or more often in his discretion, cause all devices or appliances used for the ascertainment of weight, length, or measure in connection with buying or selling, or with transporting or receiving for shipment any commodity…

Every merchant, corporation, or person using or having on his premises a device or appliance for use in the ascertainment of weight, length, or measure in connection with buying or selling, or with transportation or receiving for shipment any commodity offered for sale or to be o…

It shall be the duty of the director to keep a record of all scales, weights, and measures inspected and sealed by him, in which shall be stated the name and owner of the same, the date of inspection, fees received therefor, and whether or not they conform to the standard of the …

The director shall collect for each annual inspection of a weighing or measuring device, before delivering to the owner thereof a certificate that it is accurate and correct the following fees: (a) For scales: (a) For scales: (1) From 1 to 30 lbs. weight capacity $5.00; (1) From …

The director may, at the owner’s request, calibrate a weight or measure device, The minimum charge shall be $20; thereafter, $5 per hour. History: Rule 7-76, eff 19 Oct 76, § 10; and Rule 4-87, eff 21 Apr87.

The director shall deposit to the general fund of the treasury of American Samoa all fees collected pursuant to this article. History: Rule 7-76. eff 19 Oct 76. § 11; and Rule 4-87, eff 21 Apr87.

If any provision or part of a provision of this article, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this article, and to this end the provisions of this article are declared to b…

The rule codified in this article is adopted under the authority of 27.0605(3) ASCA. History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 Oct 76, § 1.

This article shall apply to packages and to commodities in package form, but shall not apply to: (1) inner wrappings not intended to be individually sold to the customer; (2) shipping containers or wrapping used solely for the transportation of any commodities in bulk or in quant…

As used in this article : (1) “commodity in package form” means commodity put up or packaged in any manner in advance of sale in units suitable for either wholesale or retail sale; an individual item or lot of any commodity not in package form as defined in this section, but on w…

(a) A declaration of identity on a consumer package shall appear on the principal display panel, and shall positively identify the commodity in the package by its common or usual name, description, generic term, or the like. (b) A declaration of identity on a consumer package sha…

A declaration of identity on a nonconsumer package shall appear on the outside of a package and shall positively identify the commodity in the package by its common or usual name, description, generic term, or the like. History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 act 76, § 5.

(a) Any package kept, offered, or exposed for sale, or sold, at any place other than on the premises where packed shall specify conspicuously on the label of the package the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor. The name shall be the actual corporate name,…

Where this article requires that the quantity declaration be in terms of the largest whole unit, the declaration shall, with respect to a particular package, be in terms of the largest whole unit of weight or measure, with any remainder expressed in: (1) common or decimal fractio…

A declaration of net quantity of the commodity in the package, exclusive of wrappers and any other material packed with such commodity, shall appear on the principal display panel of a consumer package and, unless otherwise specified in this article (see 27.0628 through 27.0631),…

The term “net weight” shall be used in conjunction with the declaration of quantity in terms of weight; the term may either precede or follow the declaration of weight. History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 Oct 76, § 9.

A declaration of quantity may or more lines of print or type. History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 Oct 76, § 10.

(a) The declaration of the quantity of a particular commodity shall be expressed in terms of liquid measure if the commodity is liquid, or in terms of weight if the commodity is solid, semisolid, viscous, or a mixture of solid and liquid, or in terms of numerical count. However, …

(a) A declaration of quantity: (1) in units of weight shall be in terms of the avoirdupois pound or ounce; (2) in unit of liquid measures shall be in terms of the United States gallon of 231 cubic inches or liquid-quart, liquid-pint, or fluid-ounce subdivisions of the gallon, and…

When the term “ounce” is employed in a declaration of liquid quantity, the declaration shall identify the particular meaning of the term by the use of the term “fluid”; however, such distinction may be omitted when, by association of terms (for example, as in “1 pint 4 ounces”), …

(a) The declaration of quantity shall be expressed in terms of: (1) in the case of length measure of less than 1 foot, inches and fractions of inches; (2) in the case of area measure of less than 1 square foot, square. inches and fractions of square inches; (3) in the case of wei…

(a) On packages containing 1 pound or more but less than 4 pounds, the declaration shall be expressed in ounces and, in addition, shall be followed by a declaration in parentheses, expressed in terms of the largest whole unit; provided, that the quantity declaration appearing on …

For bidimensional commodities (including roll-type commodities) the quantity declaration shall be expressed : (1) if less than 1 square foot, in terms of linear inches and fractions of linear inches; (2) if at least 1 square foot but less than 4 square feet, in terms of square in…

(a) If the commodity is in individually usable units of 1 or more components or ply, the quantity declaration shall, in addition to complying with other applicable quantity declaration requirements of this article, include the number of ply and the total number of usable units. (…

(a) A statement net quantity of contents of any consumer commodity may contain common or decimal fractions. A common fraction shall be in terms of halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, or thirty-seconds, except that: (1) if there exists a firmly established general consumer usag…

(a) The required quantity, declaration may be supplemented by cine or more declarations of weight, measure, or count, such declaration appearing other than on a principal display panel. Such supplemental statement of quantity of contents shall not include any terms qualifying a u…

In no case shall any declaration of quantity be qualified by the addition of the words “when packed”, “minimum”, or “not less than”, or any words of similar import, nor shall any unit of weight, measure, or count be qualified by any term (such as “jumbo”, “giant”, “full”, or the …

A nonconsumer package shall bear on the outside a declaration of the net quantity of contents. Such declaration shall be in terms of the largest whole unit (see 27.0621). History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 Oct 76, § 21.

The declaration of the quantity of a particular nonconsumer commodity shall be expressed in terms of liquid measure if the commodity is liquid, or in terms of weight if the commodity is solid, semisolid, viscous, or a mixture of solid and liquid, or in terms of numerical count. H…

(a) A nonconsumer-package declaration of quantity: (1) in units of weight shall be in terms of the avoirdupois pound or ounce; (2) in units of liquid measure shall be in terms of the United States gallon of 231 cubic inches or liquid-quart, liquid-pint, or fluid-ounce subdivision…

The average quantity of contents in the package of a particular lot, shipment, or delivery of a nonconsumer commodity shall at least equal the declared quantity, and no unreasonable shortage in any package shall be permitted, even though averages in other packages in the same shi…

All information required to appear on a consumer package shall appear thereon in the English language and shall be prominent, definite, and plain, and shall be conspicuous as to size and style of letters and numbers and as to color of letters and numbers in contrast to color of b…

The declaration or declarations of quantity of the contents of a package shall appear in the bottom 30% of the principal display panel or panels except as otherwise provided in 27.0654 for cylindrical containers. History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 Oct 76, § 26.

The declaration or declarations of quantity shall be in such a style of type or lettering as to be boldly, clearly, and conspicuously presented with respect to other type, lettering, or graphic material on the package, except that a declaration of net quantity blown, formed, or m…

The declaration or declarations of quantity shall be in a color that contrasts conspicuously with its background, except that a declaration of net quantity blown, formed, or molded on a glass or plastic surface shall not be required to be presented in a contrasting color if no re…

The area surrounding the quantity declaration shall be free of printed information: ( 1) above and below, by a space equal to at least the height of the lettering in the declaration, and (2) to the left and right, by a space equal to twice the width of the letter “N” of the style…

The quantity declaration shall be presented in such a manner as to be generally parallel to the declaration of identity and to the base on which the package rests as it is designed to be displayed. History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 Oct 76, § 30.

(a) The square-inch area of the principal display panel shall be: (1) in the case of a rectangular container, 1 entire side of which properly can be considered to be the principal display panel, the product of the height times the width of that side; (2) in the case of a cylindri…

(a) The height of any letter or number in the required quantity declaration shall be not less than that shown in Table 1 with respect to the square-inch area of the panel, and the height of each number of a common fraction shall meet 1/2 the minimum height standards. TABLE 1. MIN…

All information required to appear on a nonconsumer package shall be definitely and clearly stated thereon in the English language. Any required information that is either in hand lettering or hand script shall be entirely clear and equal to printing in legibility. History: Rule …

For an individual package affixed to a display card, or for a commodity and display card together composing a package, the type size of the quantity declaration is governed by the dimensions of the display card. History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 act 76, § 34.

When cartons containing 12 eggs have been designed so as to permit division in half by the retail purchaser, the required quantity declaration shall be so positioned as to have its context destroyed when the carton is divided. History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 act 76, § 35.

The declaration of quantity on an aerosol package, and on a similar pressurized package, shall disclose the net quantity of the commodity (including. propellant), in terms of weight, that will be expelled when the instructions for use as shown on the container are followed. Histo…

Any package containing more than 1 individual “commodity in package form” (see 27.0617(1)) of the same commodity shall bear on the outside of the package a declaration of: (1) the number of individual units; (2) the quantity of each individual unit; and (3) the total quantity of …

Any package containing individual units of dissimilar commodities (such as an antiquing kit, for example) shall bear on the label of the package a quantity declaration for each unit. History: Rule 6-76, eff 19 act 76, § 38.