7. 2. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 31/7 
Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 80/181/EEC on the approximation of the 
laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement 
COM(88) 751 final — SYN 171 
(Submitted by the Commission on 22 December 1988) 
(89/C 31/07) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100A 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
In cooperation with the European Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas Council Directive 80/181/EEC ('), as amended 
by Directive 85/1/EEC (2), provides that a definitive 
date be fixed for the legal use of the imperial units of 
measurement listed in Chapter III of the Annex thereto; 
whereas, for some imperial units and for specific uses, it 
has appeared necessary to allow the Member States 
concerned to fix the appropriate date until which those 
units are legal units of measurement; 
Whereas the troy ounce is the specific unit universally 
used for bullion dealing; whereas it is therefore necessary 
to include it in Section 4 of Chapter I of the Annex, for 
this specific use only; 
Whereas Article 3 of Directive 80/181/EEC allows new 
final dates to be set for the use of supplementary indi­
cations, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
Directive 80/181/EEC is hereby amended as follows: 
1. In Article 1, points (b) and (c) are replaced by the 
following: '(b) those listed in Chapter II of the Annex, only in 
those Member States where they were authorized 
on 21 April 1973 and until a date to be fixed by 
those Member States; 
(c) those listed in Chapter III of the Annex, only in 
those Member States where they were authorized 
on 21 April 1973 and until a date to be fixed by 
those Member States. This date may not be later 
than 31 December 1994; 
(d) those listed in Chapter IV of the Annex, only in 
those Member States where they were authorized 
on 21 April 1973 and until a date to be fixed by 
those Member States. This date may not be later 
than 31 December 1999.' 
2. In Article 3: 
— in paragraph 2, '31 December 1989' is replaced by 
'31 December 1999', 
— paragraph 5 is deleted. 
3. In Article 5, '1 March 1974' is replaced by '15 May 
1983'. 
4. In Article 6, the second paragraph is deleted. 
5. The Annex is amended in accordance with the Annex 
hereto. 
Article 2 
Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu­
lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply 
with this Directive on 1 July 1990. They shall forthwith 
inform the Commission thereof. 
Article 3 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
(») OJ No L 39, 15. 2. 1980, p. 40. 
O OJ No L 2, 3. 1. 1985, p. 11. 
No C 31/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 2. 89 
ANNEX 
The Annex to Directive 80/181/EEC is hereby amended as follows: 
1. (a) in Section 4 of Chapter I, the following is added to the table: 
'Quantity 
Mass of bullion Unit 
Name 
Troy ounce Symbol 
oz tr Value 
1 oz tr = 31,10 x 10"3kg' 
(b) The note is hereby replaced by the following: 
'The prefixes and their symbols listed in 1.3 may be used in conjunction with the above units and 
symbols, with the exception of the millimetre of mercury and the troy ounce and their symbols. The 
multiple of 102 a is, however, called a "hectare".' 
2. Chapter II is replaced by the following text: 
'CHAPTER II 
Legal units of measurements, referred to in Article 1 (b), permitted for specific uses only 
Field of application 
Road traffic signs, distance and speed 
mesaurement 
Dispense of draught beer and cider; 
milk in returnable containers 
Land registration Unit 
Name 
Mile 
Yard 
Foot 
Inch 
Pint 
Acre Authorized value 
1 mile = 1 609 m 
1 yd = 0,9144 m 
1 ft = 0,3048 m 
1 in = 2,54 x 10"2 m 
1 pt = 0,5683 x 10"3 m3 
1 ac = 4 047 m2 Symbol 
mile \t 
in 
Pt 
ac 
Until the date to be fixed under Article 1 (b), the units listed in Chapter II may be combined with each 
other or with those in Chapter I to form compound units.' 
3. Chapter IV, as given below, is added: 
'CHAPTER IV 
Legal units of measurements, referred to in Article 1 (d), permitted in specialized fields only 
Field of application 
Marine navigation 
Beer, cider, waters, lemonades and 
fruit juices in returnable containers 
Goods sold loose from bulk 
Gas supply Unit 
Name 
Fathom 
Pint 
Fluid ounce 
Ounce 
(avoirdupoids) 
Pound 
Therm Approximate value 
1 fm = 1,829 m 
1 nt = 0,5683 x 10"3 m3 
lfl.oz = 28,41 X 10-6m3 
1 oz = 28,35 x 103 kg 
1 lb = 0,4536 kg 
1 therm = 105,506 x 106J Symbol 
fm 
Pt 
fl. oz 
oz 
lb 
therm 
Until the date to be fixed under Article 1 (d), the units listed in Chapter IV may be combined with each 
other or with those in Chapter I to form compound units.'