CTSI Conference 2016 - College of Fellows Annual Lecture In this feature international connection learning CONFERENCE 2016 weights and measures Across the Pond In summer 2015, Jay Moran jetted off to Florida, with the help of the College of Fellows bursary, to learn about a different regulatory system. Maeve Sinnott reports I ts a bit of a tough act to follow, said Jay Moran, as he stepped up to give the College of Fellows annual lecture, after the six new college fellowships had been awarded to such esteemed colleagues. A chartered trading standards practitioner from Cheshire East, Moran gave a presentation on how he used the College of Fellows travel bursary to visit the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) in summer 2015, to understand how the organisation, based in the state capital Tallahassee, undertook its regulatory services. Moran presented photographs of his trip and related a light-hearted report of his daily experiences of the three-week trip to Florida from which he returned impressed and full of recommendations for the UK system. Special thanks were given to his very helpful colleague from Denbighshire Trading Standards, Ian Reader, as well as Fellows Tom Philpott and Bob Wright. The College of Fellows inspired me and supported me, said Moran. Landing in Miami on 31 July, Moran travelled to Tallahassee where he spent time conducting food and weights and measures visits with inspectors in the area, and witnessing how their regulatory services are run. He then travelled south to give a keynote speech at a conference in the Orlando area, before returning to the UK on 21 August. Most of the photos are really bad, Moran said, with a warm smile. I took an ofcial photographer with me, who turned out to be the worlds worst map reader and photographer! Gaining knowledge The FDACS is quite like our trading standards, but it does a bit more too and it has its own police, known as the agricultural police. The inspectors keep the job simple. They dont have as much training, but they will do just one job focusing on scales, for example. He explained how eld inspectors work autonomously and make fewer decisions (than in the UK) as they work closely with software programmes via laptop. The agricultural police support any high-level enforcement issues. Moran showed pictures of the Bureau of Standards (part of the FDACS) dedicated lab, which is responsible for inspecting 25,000 retail and wholesale facilities and around 260,000 commercial measuring devices. Compliance is generally very high. The system is based on civil sanctions, as people sign up to Florida State though criminal action can kick in if required. The audience heard about the serious issue of credit card skimming prolic at Florida petrol pumps where fraudsters insert a skimming device and return later to collect all the credit card details. Moran also spent time with the Division of Food Safety (part of the FDACS), undertaking many visits, including to a seafood factory, a dairy packer and food retailers. He also visited a recycling factory in the Disneyland area turning left instead of through the gates. Their trading standards work as we know it is very strong and robust. The ofcers are very professional. Moran questioned why this was the case, and the response was that Florida is so full of people from elsewhere especially other countries, which have their own way of doing things that the system needs to be strong to ensure consistency right across the regulatory eld. Fellow Bob Wright presents Jay Moran with a glass clock to thank him for presenting this years Annual Lecture Four-day conference Once a year, the Bureau of Standards holds a four-day conference for inspectors from all over the state to get together. Everything is discussed from what were going to be drinking to technical information. The conference featured wonderful sessions, with guest speakers brought in too. They offered me such a wonderful opportunity in Florida; at the eleventh hour, they asked me to talk about the UK and the trading standards profession. There was no way I could refuse. Dr Matt Curan, chief of the Bureau of Standards (part of the FDACS) gave him a 30-minute slot to talk about weights and measures, which led to a concern: What could I talk about in weights and measures for 30 minutes? After Moran prepared some notes to ll the time and sent them over for approval, Curan responded: This looks great, Jay well give you another 45 minutes. The conference and the two weeks of accompanying inspectors in Florida clearly had an impact and Moran created detailed recommendations for the UK sector based on his learning from the visit. These are available in a detailed report and were also listed in the May 2016 edition of TS Review. Moran described how friendly the Florida conference had been and he detailed a number of motivational football and baseball references that cropped up everywhere at the event; one in particular stood out for me Be the best referee you can! Credits Maeve Sinnott is a junior reporter for TS Today. Images: Sam Atkins To share this page, in the toolbar click on You might also like Article: Back to the future, TS Review, May 2016 edition, page 38.