Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation has issued the first national metrological test technical specification in the field of cheating feature identification, Specification for Test of Cheating Feature Identification of Electronic Price Computing Scales (hereinafter referred to as the Specification), which shall come into force on January 1, 2027.
As widely used weighing instruments, electronic price computing scales are prevalent in farmers’ markets, supermarkets, mobile stalls and other scenarios. Up to now, there are 4.33 million electronic price computing scales nationwide. The metrological accuracy of electronic price computing scales serves as the foundation and core for fair and precise weighing and pricing, directly bearing on the public’s "vegetable baskets" and "purses".
The Specification incorporates systematic testing for cheating feature identification into the national metrological technical specification system, offering solid technical support for cheating behavior screening and metrological supervision and law enforcement. It features three major highlights:
It innovatively adopts a negative list judgment model. From the two dimensions of weighing and price calculation, the Specification carries out identification tests and comprehensive assessment on cheating features (deceptive usage characteristics) of electronic price computing scales, clearly defining rigid benchmarks for supervision and law enforcement included in the negative issue list.
It covers common forms of cheating. The Specification classifies cheating of electronic price computing scales into two categories: software tampering and hardware modification. Combined with practical experience in metrological verification, while focusing on inspecting the weighing issue of "giving short weight", it also prioritizes the test of abnormal price calculation. It basically covers various common cheating methods in the market, further tightening the supervision network for people’s livelihood metrology.
It specifies and clarifies the complete practical test procedures. The Specification clarifies the whole process of cheating feature detection and testing. Cheating behaviors are identified by trying various possible key combination adjustments and simulating external remote control devices. Together with weight loading and price verification, it checks whether the weighing and price indication values are accurate. It identifies cheating features of electronic price computing scales across the whole chain, all links and all elements, consolidating the technical foundation for people’s livelihood metrological supervision.
Moving forward, the State Administration for Market Regulation will continue to deepen comprehensive governance in the field of people’s livelihood metrology. It will safeguard the public’s "vegetable baskets" and "purses" through targeted and efficient metrological supervision, so that residents can shop and weigh goods with full confidence.
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