The
Sixth APLMF in Bali
The sixth Asia Pacific Legal Metrology Forum was held at Hotel
Putri Bali in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, from 7 to 9 September 1999.
Forty-four people were in attendance, including delegates and observers
from 17 member economies, Mr. M. B. Athane, Director of BIML, and
Dr. K. Birkeland, Former Director General, Norwegian Metrology Service
and President of OIML (1980-1994).
The Forum began with a Welcome Address by the Chairman of the Forum
Meeting. The Chairman, Mr. Bambang H. Hardiwiarjo, Deputy Director
General for Accreditation and International Cooperation, National
Standardization Agency BSN, Indonesia, and Vice-Chairman of the
National Accreditation Body of Indonesia, warmly welcomed all the
delegates attending the Forum to Bali.
Following opening remarks by Mr. John Birch, A.M., Convenor of
APLMF, the Forum discussed implementation of the "Memorandum
of Understanding" (MoU) for members of the APLMF whose objectives
are the development of legal metrology and the promotion of free
and open trade in the region through cooperation and the removal
of technical and administrative barriers to trade in the field of
legal metrology. Though the 13 economies had signed the MoU and
returned their completed forms to the secretariat since the last
Forum in Seoul, some concerns on the wording of the MoU were raised
by Dr. S. Chappell, USA, and those concerns were discussed. As a
result, the Forum approved a change in the wording "mutual
recognition agreement" to "mutual recognition arrangement"
with the support of the 16 economies.
Five Working Group (WG) Meetings were held on the day before the
Forum. Mr. Birch, Ms. K. Marston, and Mr. J. Barker, who chaired
the WGs, presented the reports of the respective working groups.
Ms. K. Marston also presented a report on the training course that
was successfully conducted in Bandung, Indonesia, from 24 August
to 3 September 1999, prior to the Forum meetings.
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The following reports were subsequently presented: (1) Report on
the progress of the Forum Work Plan, which covers most fields of
legal metrology in the member economies; (2) Country report presentations
by each participating member economy entitled "Current Developments
in the Legal Metrology System and Directions of Future Changes";
(3) Discussion on APEC Standards and Conformance issues and report
of a meeting between Specialist Regional Bodies (SRBs) and the APEC
Standards and Conformance Sub-Committee; (4) Discussion of OIML
issues; (5) Discussion of a liaison with other regional metrology
organizations; and (6) Discussion on bilateral and multilateral
assistance for development of legal metrology in the region.
A special topic nominated by the host economy, "Measuring
Bulk Materials in Trade by a Draft Survey," was presented by
Mr. Hari Prawoko, Inspector of the Inspectorate of Metrology, and
it was discussed. Dr. K. Birkeland and Mr. J. Barker spoke on their
experiences in bulk commodity weighing.
The Forum discussed the work program to be carried out in the next
few years and adopted a Work Program for 1999/2000.
Mr. Birch informed the Forum that the positions of president and
secretariat will terminate at the end of 1999, as he will be retiring
from the National Standards Commission in 2000. The member economies
were requested to submit nominations for these positions. However,
there were no nominations received, so Mr. Birch agreed to continue
as president for the time being until a new president and secretariat
assume the responsibilities. Since the MoU was approved in this
Forum, the former "Convenor" will be called "President"
beginning in the year 2000.
The Forum decided that the next Forum meeting will be held in Chinese
Taipei in 2000. However, the exact dates and venue for the Forum
will be decided by the host economy and the president at a later
date. See you in Chinese Taipei!
Dr. Toshio Sakurai (NRLM)
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