Sharjah24: The Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD) and the Sharjah Cooperative Society held a workshop to present the local regulations and guidelines governing scales. This is part of SEDD's initiatives to improve ties with commercial partners as well as its role in raising public awareness of its efforts to regulate the emirate's markets and disseminate information about the officially recognised system of weights and measures.

The workshop was planned to better enable directors, heads of branches, and employees of the Sharjah Cooperative Society with the most recent information in the fields of law and cooperative management. The obligatory standards of the United Arab Emirates in the areas of weighing and measuring were also reviewed. In addition, it involved applying the most up-to-date global best practices and the guidance provided by the International Organization for Legal Metrology (OIML) on the establishment of metrological signs in practical settings so as to better define the verification mechanisms used in these contexts.

These workshops are part of SEDD's strategy to implement several metrology monitoring programmes. Such actions are intended to protect the Emirate's markets from weight fraud and manipulation, as well as to raise awareness among the owners of those commercial establishments about the importance of adhering to periodic scale calibration.

The importance of having a variety of requirements in the trade scales was emphasised by SEDD. These requirements included the presence of a statement card containing the scale's basic data and ensuring that the scale has two screens so that the buyer can read the weighing result. It also stressed the significance of having the SEDD periodic verification label in green, as well as not using the scale with a red label.
 
Salim Al Suwaidi, Deputy Director of SEDD's Commercial Control and Protection Department, stressed the importance of creating an ideal commercial environment with a high culture of awareness and impartiality in buying and selling procedures across all economic sectors. He went on to say that SEDD follows the highest international standards and practises in order to ensure the safety of all financial policies in the emirate's markets and to strengthen Sharjah's economic and commercial position. He most likely confirmed SEDD's commitment to working with dealers and consumers to find a fair balance.

Al Suwaidi emphasised that developing the knowledge capacity of the emirate's commercial partners is in line with the department's strategic objectives. He went on to say that it is concerned with creating a suitable and appealing business environment for local and international investors in the economic sector, as well as supporting its growth and increasing its competitiveness regionally and globally. Additionally, Al Suwaidi stated that the Economic Department works continuously and through a distinguished team of commercial officers affiliated with it to ensure the accuracy of legal measurement tools and their compliance with specifications, requirements, and UAE technical regulations for weights and scales.