A good point The PLU s are for global usage per the IFPS International Federation for Produce Standards which is the standards authority for PLU s There is an updated reference document and user s guide that I just noticed on the IFPS website It was released with an effective date of July 2012 There is specific language in it which describes the scope of PLU s within the U S A versus the rest of the world The primary motivation for that distinction appears to be the U S A s usage of the Imperial System of measurement as opposed to everywhere else Insofar as I could tell the IFPS seems to have stronger origination ties to several European nations than to the U S A I mention that only because of my own initial impression that the IFPS was U S A centric which I am now less certain about Note that I said less certain I have no expert knowledge merely what is provided as authoritative by the IFPS website and member organizations