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Vermont agency urges modernizing 50‑year‑old unit‑pricing law, warns on electronic shelf‑label —surge pricing—
Summary
At an April 16 hearing on H.942, Vermont Agency of Agriculture weights‑and‑measures staff recommended aligning state law with national unit‑pricing standards, proposed a narrow fix to require posted retail prices, and warned that electronic shelf labels and algorithmic —surge pricing— need guardrails; lawmakers and retailers discussed exemptions for small stores.
On April 16, agency officials testified to a legislative committee considering H.942 that Vermont's unit‑pricing law needs an update to reflect modern retail technology and practices. Mark Pacquette, Weights & Measures program chief at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, said the statute is —over 50 years old— and —antiquated,— and urged lawmakers to adopt national standards already in use for the past several years.
The agency recommended folding unit‑pricing language into the state's weights‑and‑measures framework and clarifying a separate gap that can leave some items on shelves without any posted total price. "Some of the language in the regulation is cumbersome and difficult to comply with," Pacquette said, and the change would bring Title 6/9 language into alignment with existing enforcement practice.
Scott Dolan, Vermont Weights & Measures specialist and the agency's technical lead on unit pricing, told the committee that adopting national guidance would simplify compliance for multi‑state retailers and ease enforcement. He cited a 2023 Food Industry…
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