04.11.2010
From September 21 to 24, 2010, the 45th meeting of the International Committee of Legal Metrology (CIML) took place in Orlando, Florida (USA).
100 participants from 54 member states took part in the meeting. The German delegation comprised (besides the author, Dr. Roman Schwartz) also Dr. Heinz Wallerus, head of the German Academy of Metrology (DAM) and deputy head of the Bayerisches Landesamt für Maß und Gewicht (BLMG). Prof. Manfred Kochsiek, retired vice president of PTB, took part as honorary member of OIML. Also, international and regional organizations with which OIML maintains relations - such as the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), the European Cooperation in Legal Metrology (WELMEC), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the European Association for National Trade Organisations representing the European Manufacturers of Weighing Instruments (CECIP), which was represented by Veronika Martens, chairwoman of the CECIP Legal Metrology Group - participated in the meeting. All resolutions of the 45th CIML meeting can be found under "http://www.oiml.org/download/".
1. Cooperation of the OIML with other organizations
As far as the BIPM (the Metre Convention) is concerned, there is agreement that the good cooperation of these two international metrology organizations shall be continued and - if possible - be further developed.
Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) of the OIML have been signed so far with ILAC and IAF (signed in October 2007), UNIDO and BIPM (signed in December 2008) as well as with ISO (signed also in December 2008).
In future, the cooperation with IEC is envisaged to be intensified; a corresponding MoU is in preparation.
Also, the cooperation of the OIML with UNECE, the most important economic commission of the United Nations, is envisaged to be intensified in future; a corresponding cooperation agreement with the UNECE Working Group "Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies" is also being prepared.
2. OIML Recommendations and OIML documents
The following OIML Recommendations (R) were confirmed, i.e. they will, for the time being, not be revised: R 92:1989 (Wood moisture meters), R 127:1999 (Radiochromic film dosimetry systems ...), R 131:2001 (Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) dosimetry systems ...), R 132:2001 (Alanine EPR dosimetry systems ...), R 133:2002 (Liquid-in-glass thermometers).
For the following drafts of revised OIML Recommendations (R) and documents (D), CIML online votings are planned after - in some cases - further revisions:
R 100 (Atomic absorption spectrometers ...), R 106-1 (Automatic rail-weighbridges),
D 16 (Principles of assurance of metrological control).
The following new project was approved: Revision D29:2008 (Guide for the application of ISO/IEC Guide 65 ..., adaptation to the new ISO 17065).
3. Further technical activities
For the present, Australia has not been successful in putting through the proposal of establishing a new Working Group Conformity to type (conformity of the production with the certified type). A decision will be taken at an OIML seminar which is going to take place in the first half of 2011.
A decision on the future TC/SC structure in the OIML will presumably be taken in 2011. There are many advocates of a so-called "flat structure", in which case each OIML document will be assigned a Technical Committee (TC) of its own. For various reasons, Germany has, however, reservations against this proposal and pleads for the retention of the present structure.
The general OIML agreement on the mutual recognition of test results (OIML MAA), which came into force in 2006, is currently only valid for non-automatic weighing instruments (R76), load cells (R60) and cold water meters (R49). The number of MAA certificates issued so far amounts to a total of 91 (32xR76, 53xR60, 6xR49). A reason for the still poor acceptance is surely the lacking possibility for a certification body to make use of manufacturer results under specific conditions. This subject is at present being discussed in Working Group TC3/SC5, with the aim of adopting a respective resolution on the occasion of the CIML meeting in 2011.
4. Particulars and tributes
As the successor of Alan Johnston (Measurement Canada) - who will continue performing his official functions until the next CIML meeting in 2011 - Peter Mason (director of the National Measurement Office, Great Britain) was appointed new CIML president.
As the successor of Stuart Carstens (South Africa), Roman Schwartz (Germany) was elected new vice president of the CIML. Graham Harvey (Australia) remains CIML vice president.
Effective January 1, 2011, Stephen Patoray (USA) has been appointed new director of the International Bureau of Legal Metrology (BIML) as the successor of Jean-Francois Magana.
In recognition of their extraordinary merits and contributions to international legal metrology, Dr. Heinz Wallerus (Germany), Brian Beard (South Africa) and Nikolai Zhagora (Belarus) were decorated with an OIML medal.
Contact person:
Roman Schwartz, Head of Division 1 "Mechanics and Acoustics", German member of the International Committee of Legal Metrology (CIML),