Workshop on Legal Metrology for the Americas
Jun 01 - 12, 1998 ( Gaithersburg, MD )
A Workshop on Legal Metrology for the Americas (WLMA) was held at NIST from June 1-12, 1998, sponsored by NIST, the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM), the Organization of American States (OAS), InterAmerican Metrology System (SIM), International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML). Representatives from 31 of the 34 OAS member nations participated.
The Workshop was conducted for several reasons. Legal metrology is now recognized as an important issue in the globalization of trade, especially with regard to technical barriers to trade. Moreover, since other regions (Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa) have developed regional legal metrology organizations, nations within the western hemisphere are considering whether they should do the same, and good metrological cooperation has been growing among the countries of the Americas through SIM.
In addition to the meetings at NIST, Gaithersburg, there was a three-day field trip to Ohio to tour the Hobart Corporation Technology Center, laboratories of the Mettler Toledo Corporation, and the Ohio National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP) laboratory.
The Workshop achieved its main goals: 1) to better acquaint participants with the weights and measures practices within the Americas and globally; and 2) to solicit views and develop a plan of action towards regional cooperation in the development and implementation of legal metrology procedures and practices within the Americas. The group adopted resolutions to: 1) create a working group on legal metrology in SIM, 2) develop a program structure for that working group, and 3) organize periodic workshops and other fora to identify and address key issues and needs for fostering future cooperation in legal metrology within the Americas.
+ List of Participating Organizations
Country |
Organization |
Antigua and Barbuda |
Antigua and Barbuda Bureau of Standards |
Argentina | Direccion Lealtad Comercial |
Bahamas | Ministry of Consumer Welfare and Aviation |
Barbados | The Barbados National Standards Institution |
Belize | Belize Bureau of Standards |
Bolivia | Viceministry de Industria y Comercio Interno |
Chile | Servicio Nacional del Consumidor (SERNAC) |
Colombia | Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio |
Costa Rica | Oficina Nacional de Normas y Unidades de Medida |
Dominica | Trade and Marketing, Government Headquarters |
Ecuador | Instituto Ecuatoriano de Normalizacion (INEN) |
El Salvador | Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia de El Salvador (CONACYT) |
Grenada | Grenada Bureau of Standards |
Guatemala | Comicion Guatemalteca de Normas, Ministerio de Economia |
Guyana | Guyana National Bureau of Standards |
Haiti | Ministere du Commerce & de L'Industrie |
Honduras | National Council of Science and Technology (NCST) |
Jamaica | Jamaica Bureau of Standards |
Mexico | General Bureau of Standards |
Nicaragua | Direccion General de Normas y Tecnologia Industrial |
Panama | Comision de Libre Competencia y Asuntos del Consumidor (CLICAC) |
Paraguay | Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia y Normalizacion |
Peru |
Instituto Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia y de la Proteccion de la Propiedad Intelectual (INDECOPI) |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | Bureau of Standards, Ministry of Agriculture |
Saint Lucia | Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards |
Trinidad and Tobago | Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards |
Uruguay | Laboratorio Tecnologico del Uruguay (LATU) |
Venezuela | Servicio Autonomo Nacional de Metrologia |