As the peak summer tourism season arrives in Zhangye, the demand from visiting tourists and local residents for purchasing fresh produce and local agricultural specialties is continuously rising. The accuracy of market scales and the fairness of transactions directly impact the city's cultural tourism image and consumer rights.

The Ganzhou District Market Supervision Administration in Zhangye City, Gansu Province, leveraging its function in public welfare metrology, has launched a comprehensive campaign targeting major agricultural markets, suburban bazaars, and fresh produce stalls along tourist routes. The initiative aims to rectify malpractices such as short-weight sales and the use of tampered scales, ensuring a fair and orderly tourism market through precise metrological supervision.

During inspections, officials strictly followed the latest verification regulations for electronic price-computing scales and standards for preventing scale tampering. They employed a three-pronged approach involving on-site verification, online database checks, and calibration with standard weights to conduct thorough "health checks" on all types of scales in use by merchants, including electronic price-computing scales and platform scales.

The focus was on verifying key elements such as valid verification labels, verification expiry dates, the integrity of protective lead seals, and built-in anti-tampering lock functions. The accuracy of the scales was tested on-site using standard weights. The campaign strictly investigated illegal activities like私自改装 (private modification), installing remote-control作弊装置 (cheating devices), inaccurate measurements, using scales beyond their verification period, and employing non-compliant measuring instruments. The goal is to坚决杜绝 (resolutely prevent) problematic devices from being "used while faulty or allowed into the market," thereby safeguarding the baseline of measurement fairness at the source.

Simultaneously, the administration is advancing regulatory enforcement alongside legal education. On-site, they briefed market operators and vendors on relevant laws and regulations, including the "Metrology Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Measures for the Supervision and Management of Metrology in Marketplaces." This effort aims to reinforce the primary management responsibility of market operators and the operational responsibility of vendors.

Market operators are urged to conscientiously implement management systems such as maintaining equipment ledgers, arranging regular verifications, and conducting routine self-inspections. They are also instructed to properly set up and regularly calibrate public fairness scales, promoting the establishment of an integrity-based metrology management system within the markets.

Concurrently, information on how to guard against计量防骗 (measurement fraud) and作弊 (cheating) is being disseminated to consumers. Public complaint channels are advertised to encourage public participation in market supervision and the reporting of metrological violations. This approach strives to build a multi-party governance framework characterized by "targeted regulatory enforcement, merchant self-discipline, and broad public oversight."

This operation inspected over 170 measuring instruments. Violations were confirmed involving 7 business entities, including the use of electronic price-computing scales that had not undergone mandatory verification and私自破坏 (private destruction of) the lead seals on measuring instruments. Enforcement officers temporarily confiscated a total of 13 non-compliant instruments on-site and will pursue legal action against the involved merchants according to regulations.

Moving forward, the Ganzhou District Market Supervision Administration will continue to deepen comprehensive, full-chain metrological supervision in marketplaces. It will maintain regular campaigns to tackle metrological violations, strengthen routine patrols of乡镇集市 (township markets) and mobile vendors around scenic areas, and address weak points in metrological oversight. Through precise, standardized, and considerate market supervision, the administration aims to protect the public's "vegetable basket" and tourists' "wallets," upholding Ganzhou's image as a诚信 (trustworthy) cultural tourism city.