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International Organization of Legal MetrologyLegal metrology comprises all activities for which legal requirements are prescribed for measurements, units of measure ment, measuring instruments andmethods of measurement, these activities being performed by or on behalf ofgovernmental authorities, in order to ensure an appropriate level of credibility ofmeasurement results in the national regulatory environment.

(OIML D 1 “Elements for a Law on Metrology”)

Benefits of legalmetrology

Legal metrology benefits the economy and society, providing credible measurements for trade, health,

safety, protection of the environmentand law enforcement, and especiallyproviding evidence of this credibility.

• For the economy, legal metrologyreduces disputes, reduces the needfor duplicating measurements, andprotects those trading partners whohave neither the skills nor thefacilities to perform their ownmeasurements. It contributesto fair trade and moregenerally, facilitates bothdomestic and internationaltrade. This is a key factor foreconomic development;

• Concerning health, legalmetrology allows practitioners to relyon their medical instruments and medical laboratoryanalyses, rendering diagnosis more reliable. It alsocontributes to the accuracy of measurements performedfor pharmaceutical and medical treatments (surgery,radiotherapy, etc.), improving their efficiency and security;

• Human safety also demands reliable measurements andlegal metrology backs this up (pressure, maximum loads ofequipment, etc.);

• Legal metrology allows environmental protection policiesto be based on reliable measurement data, and to beenforced efficiently; and

• Finally, legal metrology leads to fairer law enforcement(evidential measurements for road safety and other lawsand regulations). It backs up the decisions of lawenforcement officers and of the courts, and protectsindividuals.

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OIML: Who are we?

The OIML is an intergovernmental Organization set up in1955 to develop cooperation in legal metrology.

It comprises Member States who have ratified the Treaty aswell as Corresponding Members, and enjoys close mutualcooperation with international organizations such as theMetre Convention and ILAC.

Its goals are to develop mutual information, recognition,confidence and cooperation so that each Member canbenefit from the legal metrology work carried out by othercountries.

OIML technical work is carried out by about seventyTechnical Committees and Subcommittees made up ofexperts from Member States; a number of other countriesand liaison organizations also contribute.

The OIML publishes International Recommendations whichare model technical regulations and which are “internationalstandards” in the sense of the WTO TBT Agreement.

It also publishes Documents and Guides, and set up the OIMLCertificate System in 1991 which aims to make it easier formanufacturers to obtain national type approvals worldwide.

In addition to the Certificate System, the OIML has also set up the MutualAcceptance Arrangement and isdeveloping further systems ofcertification and recognition.

The International Bureau of Legal Metrology, Headquarters of the Organization, publishes aquarterly Journal (the OIML Bulletin)and maintains a compre hensive web site with the aim of com municating thisinformation to as wide an audience as possible.

Responding to the needs of International Legal Metrology since 1955

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Support to regulators

For any regulating authority, drawing up anational regulation requires that thetechnical aspects be studied and thatconsensus be reached amongnational stakeholders on therequirements to be adopted. Italso demands compliance withthe international consensusrequired by the World TradeOrganisation’s TBT Agreement.

National regulators find in the OIML a source ofcompetence which has already studied thetechnical aspects related to metrological issues,and which has already reached a consensus atinternational level, taking into account allstakeholders. This applies to metrological issuesfor trade, but also for health, safety and theenvironment.

OIML publications facilitate the preparation andadoption of national regulations and ensurecompliance with the WTO’s requirements forsetting up regulations. This support to regulatorsconcerns:

• Authorities who draw up legal metrologyregulations; and

• Authorities who draw up technical regulations,the implementation of which requires

measurements.

This role of the OIMLsaves resources for allnational regulatorsand contributes tothe goals of theWTO.

To render thisservice, the relevanceof the OIML’s

publications is periodicallyreviewed and when adaptations

are necessary due to new technologies, therevision of these publications is undertaken.

Support to nationalenforcementauthorities

Enforcing a regulation requires the conformityof regulated products and of the measurements

performed in this enforcement process to be assessedin all the fields mentioned. This conformityassessment requires resources and facilities in termsof metrology that are not always available in allcountries, and that would be too costly to set upindependently in each country. Sharing part of thefacilities and resources with other countries istherefore necessary.

The OIML has set up aninternational system fortype evaluation ofmeasuring instruments,which will be followed byinternational systems forindividual certification andfor certification ofmeasurement results. Thesesystems may be taken intoaccount in theimplementation of nationalregulations, thus savingcosts and resources, andensuring compliance withthe WTO’s requirements forthe metrological aspects.

To render this service,the relevance of theOIML systems isperiodically reviewedand when adaptations arenecessary theirrevision is undertaken.

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Support to users innon-regulated areas

Anumber of users of measurements do not have advanced competences and skills in metrology and are not in a

position to evaluate by themselves the reliability ofmeasuring equipment and the credibility of themeasurements performed.

The OIML provides technical requirements that are of anadvisory nature to users when they select a measuringinstrument, when they use it, or when they have it calibrated,verified or maintained by a servicing company.These OIML publications allow users toacquire confidence in the measurementresults that they use.

As examples, using OIML publicationsand OIML Certification systems as areference, physicians may have greaterconfidence in medical laboratoryanalyses, individuals may rely on a fairapplication of measurements by lawenforcement authorities, industry may give credit to the measurementsperformed for food safety and forthe environment, etc.

Tradefacilitator

Fluid domestic and international trade requiresinfrastructures to work correctly and smoothly: for

example banks, transport, telecommunications, or education.But we are also looking to ensure a certain level ofconfidence and this necessitates a specific infrastructure:metrology, accreditation, and certification.

Without confidence in measurement results, measurementsare duplicated, delays are increased, there are more disputes,and trade efficiency is poor.

In its Recommendations, the OIML lays down normativeand/or regulatory technical requirements, and providesrecognized Certification systems that facilitate theestablishment of confidence in the measurements performedfor domestic and international trade. By this, the OIMLspeeds up trade and eliminates costs arising from theduplication of measurements or from disputes.

Exchange ofknowledge andcompetence

The OIML is a common resource for nationalregulatory services and for metrologicalinstitutes, to exchange information about legal andday-to-day metrology issues.

Through the Organization, Members of the OIMLcan gain access to technical information concerningnew measurement technologies, their performanceand reliability, test and evaluation methods formeasuring equipment, etc.

Many also have regular contacts with theircolleagues from other Member States, so that theycan benefit from each other’s experience, askquestions, visit each other, exchange experts,develop and run cooperative studies, envisagecommon facilities, etc.

Developingcountries

The OIML has a broadprogram for supportingdeveloping countries, thegoals of which are thefollowing:

• Facilitating the participation ofdeveloping countries in OIML work;

• Taking account of specific developingcountries’ needs in OIML work;

• Providing developing countries withappropriate guidance for thedevelopment of legal metrology; and

• Facilitating developing countries’ accessto technical assistance and developmentprograms for legal metrology.

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The way to a Global MetrologySystem

The OIML allows legal metrology services,laboratories and manufacturers to have accessto information on legal metrology in MemberStates and Corresponding Members. Through theOIML, they will obtain information on nationallegal metrology regulations, procedures to accessmarkets, the organization of the national legalmetrology systems, addresses of the national and local responsible bodies, national conformityassessment procedures and markings, etc.

The OIML will constitute an international system,together with other International Organizationsdealing with different aspects of metrology, suchas the Metre Convention (scientific metrology),ILAC (traceability through accreditation), andStandardization Organizations (ISO, IEC). Thissystem, bringing together all the aspectsof metrology and setting upinternational acceptance andrecognition agreements,constitutes a global,international infrastructurefor metrology, a GlobalMetrology System, thatanswers the needs of individualcountries and Regions to facethe challenges of globalization and to provide a metrologicalenvironmentfavourable tosocial andeconomicwelfare andgrowth.

Key figures (April 2009)Member States ............................................................ 58

Corresponding Members .......................................... 56

Recommendations published and in force ...... 102

Documents published ............................................... 28

Vocabularies published ............................................... 2

Certificates registered .......................................... 2021

Technical Committees and

Subcommittees ................................................. 18 + 47

International Organization of Legal MetrologyHeadquarters: International Bureau of Legal Metrology (BIML)

11, rue TurgotF-75009 ParisFranceTel: +33 (0)1 48 78 12 82 Fax: +33 (0)1 42 82 17 27 biml@oiml.org

www.oiml.orgwww.metrologyinfo.org

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