Powers and duties of the department.

The department shall:

(1) Maintain traceability of the state standards to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

(2) Enforce the provisions of this chapter.

(3) Adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this chapter.

(4) Establish, by rule, standards of weight, measure, or count and reasonable standards of fill for any commodity in package form, as necessary.

(5) Make, by rule, any exemptions from the provisions of this chapter when appropriate to the maintenance of good commercial practices within this state.

(6) Conduct investigations necessary to ensure compliance with this chapter.

(7) Delegate to appropriate personnel all duties and responsibilities necessary for the proper administration of this chapter.

(8) Test annually the standards of weight and measure used by any city or county and approve the same when found to be correct and reject same when found to be incorrect.

(9) Have the authority to inspect and test all weights and measures kept or offered or exposed for sale.

(10) Inspect and test, to ascertain if they are correct, all weights and measures commercially used:

(a) In determining the weight, measure, or count of commodities or things sold or offered or exposed for sale, on the basis of weight, measure, or count; or

(b) In computing the basic charge or payment for services rendered on the basis of weight, measure or count.

In compliance with rules of the department, tests may be made on representative samples of such devices, and the lots of which samples are representative shall be held to be correct or incorrect on the basis of the results of the inspection and tests of such samples.

(11) Test all weights and measures used in checking the receipt or disbursement of supplies in every institution for the maintenance of which funds are appropriated by the Legislature of this state.

(12) Approve for use, and mark, the weights and measures it finds to be correct, and reject and order to be corrected the weights and measures it finds to be incorrect. Weights and measures that have been rejected may be seized if not corrected within the timeframe as determined by departmental rule, or if used or disposed of in a manner not specifically authorized by the department. The department shall condemn, and may seize, weights and measures found to be incorrect that are not capable of being made correct.

(13) Weigh, measure, or inspect packaged commodities kept or offered or exposed for sale, sold, or in the process of delivery, to determine whether they contain the amounts represented and whether they are kept or offered or exposed for sale in accordance with this chapter or the rules adopted pursuant thereto. In carrying out the provisions of this subsection, the department may employ recognized sampling procedures that are designated in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 133, “Checking the Net Contents of Packaged Goods.”

(14) Prescribe, by rule, the appropriate term or unit of weight or measure to be used, whenever it determines in the case of a specific commodity that an existing practice of declaring net quantity of contents by weight, measure, numerical count, or combination thereof does not facilitate value comparisons by consumers or offers an opportunity for consumer confusion.

(15) Inspect and test every grain moisture measuring device used to determine the moisture of corn, soybeans, and grains offered for sale, sold, purchased, or in the process of being purchased. The department shall also have authority to establish tolerances and specifications for the accuracy and condition of these devices.

(16) Provide by rule for the voluntary registration with the department of private weighing and measuring device service agencies or personnel. Such rule shall grant private agencies and personnel that meet all registration requirements and maintain current registered status with the department the authority to place devices that meet all state requirements into commercial service until such time as the devices can be inspected and tested as provided for in subsection (10), provided such devices are reported to the department as prescribed by the rule.

The provisions of this chapter and rules adopted thereunder notwithstanding, scales routinely used by providers of weight control services shall not be considered commercial weights and measures when used to determine human weight or to compute charges or payments for services rendered by such providers on the basis of said weight, measure, or count.