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controls. The OIML Certificate System for Measuring Instruments was
established in 1990 and allows member states, under stated conditions,
to appoint the authority which issues certificates of conformity for
types of measuring instruments that comply with the requirements of
the OIML recommendations. The OIML System is now completed by
a Mutual Acceptance Arrangement which came into force in 2005 and
which will result in Declarations of Mutual Confidence in the type
testing results. The OIML then intends to establish systems for
certifying the conformity of prepackages, and for certifying the
conformity of individual instruments against the OIML requirements.
The purpose of these activities is to set up a global legal metrology
system. Harmonization of regulations and elimination of technical
barriers to trade form two important elements of the global system
under development, for that will reduce the costs of selling
instruments on the market and the costs of international trade.
However, this harmonization and cooperation will also present
important benefits for all countries and for society. Cooperation within
the OIML allows the level of protection of consumers, trading
partners and the public worldwide to be raised, and allows states to
develop an efficient legal metrology system at an acceptable cost, by
networking and avoiding costly duplication of resources. The
executive headquarters of the OIML are the Bureau International de
Métrologie Légale (BIML), located in Paris. The BIML coordinates
and supports the work carried out by the OIML technical committees
and subcommittees, supports the work of all OIML structures, and
edits and publishes OIML publications.
The structure of the OIML is as follows:
– The International Conference of Legal Metrology, which is the
highest level. The Conference meets every four years and is composed
of delegations from all member states. It takes all fundamental
decisions concerning the OIML, and in particular its budget, its policy,
the formal adoption of OIML recommendations and any decision for
common action by member states.
– The International Committee of Legal Metrology (CIML) is
composed of one delegate from each member state, in principle the
persons responsible for legal metrology in their respective countries.
The CIML follows the technical work of the technical committees and
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