STANDARDS EXPERT JOINS U.S. EMBASSY IN MEXICO CITY


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                       Roger Rensberger
March 26, 1996                               (301) 975-2762
                                             media@nist.gov

                                             TN-6105

                     STANDARDS EXPERT JOINS
                   U.S. EMBASSY IN MEXICO CITY

     The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and
Technology has recommended Henry V. Oppermann to the U.S. Commercial
Service for the position of standards officer at the United States
Embassy in Mexico City. Oppermann will report to U.S. government and
private-sector interests on standards-related developments in Mexico and
Central America. He also will work to help U.S. businesses and exporters
obtain information on Mexican and Central American regulations and
standards that might affect U.S. exports to this Western Hemisphere
region.

     Oppermann was transferred from NIST to the U.S. Commercial Service
in March 1996. His assignment to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico was made
under the terms of a memorandum between NIST and the Commercial Service,
a unit of DoC's International Trade Administration. The memorandum
covers formal and working relationships between the agencies for the
assignment of standards experts to selected U.S. embassies and missions
to achieve common goals concerning standards and exports.

     Oppermann will provide technical support to the U.S. Ambassador and
the Commercial Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. He also
will work closely with the Mexican Directorate General of Standards
(abbreviated DGN for Direccion General de Normas). The standards
organization is under the Ministry of Commerce and Industrial
Development (abbreviated SECOFI for Secretaria de Comercio y Fomento
Industrial).

     The selection of Oppermann for the position in Mexico City is part
of a NIST standards program to help commercial service counselors in
foreign embassies and missions with their efforts to assist U.S.
companies overcome specifically standards-related non-tariff technical
trade barriers. NIST operates a network of programs, including the U.S.
Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Saudi Arabia and India.
Another post is being established in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

     Oppermann has been involved with standards-related issues for more
than 25 years. He joined the NIST Office of Weights and Measures in 1976
after serving in the State of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade
and Consumer Protection in Madison. In OWM, Oppermann supervised the
State Weights and Measures Program, served as technical adviser to the
Specifications and Tolerances Committee of the National Conference on
Weights and Measures and served as the program manager for NCWM's
National Type Evaluation Program.

     Oppermann was awarded the National Institute of Standards and
Technology's Bronze Medal in 1985 for superior performance, and he
received the U.S. Department of Commerce's Silver Medal in 1987 for
"meritorious contributions of unusual value to the Department or the
Nation."

     Oppermann is a native of the state of Wisconsin and a 1971 graduate
of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in mathematics. He
is a resident of Frederick, Md. Oppermann will be joined in Mexico City
by his wife, Anne Carmichael.

     As a non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's Technology
Administration, NIST promotes U.S. economic growth by working with
industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards.

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