Dr. Charles Greene worked toward fairness in the marketplace
 
(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) – A longtime employee of New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) has been honored at the national level for a lifetime’s worth of contributions to the field of weights and measures.  That field ensures marketplace fairness through the certification of devices used to weigh and measure products marked for sale – everything from the produce you buy at the grocery store to the fuel you buy at the gas station.
 
Dr. Charles Greene, now retired, was presented the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) earlier this month.  In his 20 years at NMDA, Dr. Greene oversaw some major changes: from modernizing the state’s Weights and Measures Law, to increasing the number of inspectors in order to implement a full-service weights and measures enforcement program, to adding petroleum measurement and quality standards to the long list of services NMDA provides to New Mexicans.  He retired in 1991.
 
“Dr. Greene’s leadership of NMDA’s Weights and Measures program helped to ensure the cornerstone of commerce: a fair marketplace for both buyer and seller,” New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte said.  “A fair marketplace is one in which customers get what they pay for – and one in which the sellers themselves aren’t unwittingly shorting themselves on the sale.”
 
Examples of the work done by NMDA’s Weights and Measures program include:
·         Certifying scales to ensure they accurately weigh meat and produce;
·         Certifying scales to ensure they accurately weigh livestock; and
·         Certifying fuel pumps to ensure they accurately measure gasoline and diesel.
 
“The next time you’re at the grocery store or the gas station, look and you’ll find a round sticker showing that the device – whether it’s a scale or a fuel pump – has been certified by NMDA,” New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte said.  “This is the kind of service that enhances consumer confidence and enables New Mexico businesses to compete fairly in the state and elsewhere – both of which go a long way in strengthening New Mexico’s economy.”
 
The National Institute of Standards and Technology estimates that “sales of products or services impacted by weights and measures laws in the United States represent approximately 50 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.”
 
For more information on NMDA’s Weights and Measures program, please visit www.nmda.nmsu.edu/scs.