Finland

In the Republic of Finland the President is elected by direct popular vote every six years. The single-chamber Parliament is elected every fourth year. The Council of State administers the country together with the president. Legislative power lies with Parliament and the President. The Council of State is made up mainly from members of the Parliament. Finland is divided into 6 Provinces and has about 340 Municipal Councils. The Province of Åland holds autonomous status.

Finland extends over an area of 338 000 km² of which 68 % is forest and 10 % is lakes. The total population is 5.3 million. The Greater Helsinki area, with a population about 1 million, includes the cities of Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa.

Organisational Structure and Background

Finland's history in legal metrology dates back to the time when Finland was a part of Sweden. A unifying measuring system was introduced in the 17^th century. The metric system came into force in 1886 and type approval Regulations were introduced in the 1920s.

Legal metrology in Finland is based on the Act on Weights and Measures originally issued in 1965, with the latest amendment in 1999. This act is supplemented by the Decree on Weights and Measures of 1992, with the latest amendment in 2004, and also by other regulations.

The Regulator

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy is the regulatory body for the field of legal metrology.

The Authorities

Tukes (The Safety Technology Authority of Finland), formed in 1995, is responsible for the supervision and enforcement of legal metrology legislation. As the recognised expert authority, Tukes coordinates with and contributes to national and international cooperation. Tukes also provides information for consumers and entrepreneurs as well as initiating and participating in the research on issues relating to legal metrology. In-service surveillance is carried out by Tukes in cooperation with the Regional State Administrative Agencies. Tukes is also the responsible authority for market surveillance of non-automatic weighing instruments, NAWIs, and measuring instruments under the MID. Tukes reports to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.

Notified Bodies

Notified Bodies for NAWI directive and the MID are appointed by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Their competence is verified by the Finnish Accreditation Service, FINAS.

Inspecta Tarkastus Oy is notified body (NB 0424) for the NAWI directive and for several modules for measuring instruments in MID annexes MI-001, MI-003, MI-005, MI-006, MI-007, MI-008 and MI-009.

Inspection Bodies

Reverifications of all measuring instruments are performed by approved inspection bodies. For nationally regulated measuring instruments, type approval tasks and initial verifications are also performed by inspection bodies. Performing reverifications of all measuring instruments and type approvals according to national legislation were opened up to competition in 1998. Competent organisations have to apply to Tukes for a permit prior to commencing their activities. They are also regularly supervised by Tukes with the active help of FINAS. Sub-contracted test laboratories, accredited according to EN45001, may perform specific tests, such as EMC testing. At the time of writing there are four competing inspection bodies:

Inspecta Tarkastus Oy acts as a notified body for non-automatic weighing instruments and the MID (NB 0424) and has the competence over an extensive range of verifications and type approvals (national and EEC –type approvals). It also provides calibration services. Inspecta Tarkastus Oy, the former Technical Inspection Centre, was a State owned company until 2002 when it was sold to a private fund organisation.
DEKRA Industrial Oy is the second verification company and its competence covers verifications of road tanks and measuring systems for liquids other than water.
PME Control Oy concentrates on liquids other than water especially at oil terminals and more recently on NAWIs
THT-Tarkastus Oy concentrates on fuel dispensers.

National measuring system

MIKES (The Centre for Metrology and Accreditation) is responsible for the national measurement standards system. Within MIKES, there is also the independent accreditation service, FINAS, which is intended for calibration and testing laboratories as well as inspection and certification bodies.

Measuring Instruments subject to legal metrology controls

Simple length measures
Other material measures of length
Length measuring instruments
Material measures of area
Area measuring instruments
Volume measures
Capacity serving measures and transfer measurers
Liquid volume metering instruments
- Petroleum
- Bulk milk
- Lubricating oil
- Heating oil
- Alcoholic beverages, including spirits, beer and cider
Road tankers
Lubrication oil meters
Cold water meters
Gas meters
Electricity meters
Heat meters
Weights
Non-automatic weighing instruments
Automatic weighing instruments
- Continuous totalising instruments
- Discontinuous totalising instruments
- Gravimetric filling instruments
- Rail-weigh bridges
- Catchweighers
  - Checkweigher
  - Weight graders
- Weigh/price labellers and price labellers
Instruments for measuring the hectolitre mass of cereals
Taximeters

In most cases instruments are subject to conformity assessment according to the MID or NAWI directive and periodical reverification. In case of nationally legislated measuring instruments type approval, initial verification and mandatory reverification are usually required.

Reverification

Finland operates a mandatory reverification system with intervals specified in legislation:

meters and measuring systems for fuels	2 years
road tankers	6 years
all other instruments	3 years

Throughout Finland, the inspection bodies have approximately 20 verification personnel. Annually there are about 30 000 instrument reverifications carried out.

Inspecta Tarkastus Oy also inspects and approves service and repair workshops, which are permitted to seal an instrument following repair. The instrument with an approved seal may then be used until the next reverification is due.

In service surveillance

The responsible authorities, Tukes and regional authorities survey regularly that measuring instruments in use comply with legal requirements. This is mainly based on visual checks of the markings and the correct use of the instrument. If the instrument fails to meet to requirements, authorities may restrict or forbid its further use or impose a fine. Using a non-complying measuring instrument is an offence and may lead on to a fine.

Market Surveillance

Tukes is the responsible authority for market surveillance on non-automatic weighing instruments and measuring instruments covered by the MID.

Measuring Instrument Directive MID 2004/22/EC

National implementation of the MID is currently being finalised. This will be done by issuing a new law on legal metrology, followed up by decrees including all the annexes of the directive. All MI-annexes will be implemented.

Non-automatic weighing instrument (NAWI) Directive 2009/23/EC

The NAWI Directive is implemented by the TTK-orders V10-92, V1-93, V2-93 and V1-94.

Instrument classes are designated for particular applications:

class (II) instruments required in pharmacies and also in trade with precious metals, precious stones and genuine pearls
class (IIII) instruments are permitted for the determination of toll, freight and transportation charges
in other cases class (III) instruments are applied

Gravity

Finland does not have defined gravity zones for weighing instruments. Verified instruments can be moved from the intended place of use when applying the following rules:

class (IIII) instruments, when verified for Finland, may be moved throughout the country
class (III) instruments with the number of scale intervals n ≤ 3000 may be moved at most 200 km from the intended place of use in a north-south direction
class (III) instruments with 3000 < n ≤ 5000 may be moved at most 100 km from the intended place of use in a north-south direction

In Finland an acceptable alternative method, which takes into account the local gravity value, is described in the WELMEC 2 guide.

Directory Contact Points

Enforcement authority for Legal Metrology:

Tukes (Safety Technology Authority)

Chief Engineer Tuomo Valkeapää

PO Box 123 (Lönnrotinkatu 37)

FIN-00181 HELSINKI

Tel. +358 10 6052 000

Fax +358 10 6052 590

Internet: www.tukes.fi

Conformity Assessments according to MID and NAWI, Type Approvals and Verifications:

Inspecta Tarkastus Oy