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 After the Global MRA was founded under the Metre Convention in 1999, several kinds of meetings have been held together with ordinary committee meetings, including the CGPM (meets every four years) and the CIPM (meets every year). The following is a list of meetings related to the Metre Convention.
CGPM : Comite Genale des Poid et Mesures
CIPM : Comite International des Poid et Mesures
CCXX (CCEM, CCL, CCM, CCTF, CCT, CCPR, CCIR, CCQM, CCU, CCAUV):
Ten committees under the CIPM concerning metrological quantities and units.
Some CCs have Working Groups (WGs) on specific matters within each CC.
JCRB : Joint Committee of the Regional Metrology Organizations (RMOs) and the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures
(BIPM) : Representatives from each regional metrology organization and the BIPM (director) gather twice a year to discussmatters related to criteria and entry into the Calibration and Measurement Capability (CMC) for constructing the BIPM Key comparison and calibration database.
JCGM : Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology
WG1 : Matters related to the Guide to the expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM), published by the ISO in 1993 and revised in 1995.
WG2 : Matters related to International Vocabulary on basic and general terms in Metrology (VIM), published by the ISO in 1993.
Joint meeting of CIPM, OIML and ILAC: Meeting between representatives from CIPM, BIPM, Organization Internationale de Metrologie Legale (OIML) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).
The most recent change in the field of measurement science is acceleration of global and regional cooperation in which equivalence of national measurement standards and establishment of international traceability system are required. Therefore, the roles of regional metrology organizations such as APMP, EUROMET, and SIM have become increasingly important. This year, I have already participated in four meetings and would like to briefly report on these meetings in this article.
On 21 February 2001, a joint meeting of CIPM, BIPM, OIML and ILAC was held at the BIML (International Bureau of the OIML, Paris) in order to exchange information and opinions on future issues in the field of metrology. I attended this meeting as an observer from OIML. After the presentation for recent activities on global metrology by each representative from these organizations, we discussed several issues on worldwide metrology.
- There is a need for mutual understanding on an international traceability system, quality management for national metrology institutes, and uncertainty evaluation.
- It is important to organize a worldwide seminar to support the progress of developing economies in the field of metrology.
- The role of national metrology institutes in calibration and accreditation was discussed in connection with ISO/IEC 17011 (General requirements for bodies proving assessment and accreditation of conformity assessment bodies).
The directors' meeting of national metrology institutes of member states of the Metre Convention (NMI directors' meeting) was held on 8 March 2001 at NIST in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary of NIST, USA. After the opening and welcoming address by the President of the CIPM, Jean Kovalevsky, a brief report on the progress in implementing the MRA and in recent research activities at BIPM was made by Dr. T. J. Quinn, Director of BIPM. At this fifth meeting, the following four presentations were made under the title "the role of measurement standards in international trade."
Metrology: Its Impact on the Economy and Quality of Life, Hratch Semerjian, Director, Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory, NIST
Metrology: its role in international trade, an Australian perspective, Barry Inglis, Director National Measurement Laboratory CSIRO, Australia
Metrology: its role in international trade, an industrial perspective, John Curley, Druck, Ltd., UK
Metrology: its role in international trade, a Japanese perspective, Hidetaka Imai, Director, National Research Laboratory of Metrology, Tsukuba, Japan.
The 6th JCRB meeting was also held at the NIST on 8 and 9 March 2001 just after the 5th NMI directors' meeting. About 30 members from six RMOs attended the meeting (from APMP, Imai, Inglis, Shi, Chua and Seta). After the brief report from the chairman (Dr. Quinn), each RMO representative reported on its present situation. From APMP, I reported on the entry to Appendix C from the APMP and announced the foundation of the developing economies' committee (DEC), and the coming General Assembly meeting to be held on 7 to 8 November 2001, at Tsukuba. During the meeting, several opinions on the CMCs and the BIPM database were exchanged. The following topics were discussed at the meeting.
1) The role and process of inter-regional review for CMCs 2) CMCs on chemistry 3) Updating the BIPM database 4) Time table of the entry to the CMC files
5) Time schedule of the JCRB before 2003: We will have JCRB meetings twice a year until 2003.
There was a request to add the following statement in the text of certificates to be issued by the national calibration institutes:
This certificate has been issued under the provisions of the MRA drawn up by the CIPM. All participating institutes recognize the validity of each other's calibration and measurement certificates for the quantities and ranges specified in Appendix C of the MRA (for details see http://www.bipm.org)."
 From 14 to 16 May 2001, the 15th EUROMET Committee Meeting was held at metas, Switzerland. They discussed the MRA, interlaboratory comparisons, quality system, and European strategy. Reports were made by member states and other regional organizations including APMP. Dr. Hetherington of Ireland was elected as the next chairman of EUROMET during the meeting. EUROMET decided to adopt the same names as APMP (e.g., General Assembly (formerly Committee Meeting), Technical Committee (formerly Raporteurs Meeting), and Executive Committee (formerly Consultative Committee). During the meeting, new projects and strategic plans within Europe were briefly introduced. After the EUROMET GA, an elegant and familiar inaugural ceremony on the foundation of metas was conducted on 17th May with live music, and participants enjoyed it very much.
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