G/TBT/GEN/188  
 
1 February 2016  
(16-0680)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
UPDATE ON BIPM ACTIVITIES  
STATEMENT BY THE INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 
This document contains information provided by the BIPM at the TBT Committee meeting of  
4-6 November 2015 under Agenda Item 4 (Update by Observers). 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION 
1.  The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) is an intergovernmental organization 
established by the Metre Convention, through which Member States act together on matters 
related to measurement science and measurement standards. There are currently 57 Member 
States and a further 40 Associated States and Economies who participate in the activities of the BIPM. The mission of the BIPM is to ensure and promote the global comparability of 
measurements, including the provision of the basis for a high-level coherent international system 
of units for: 
a. Scientific discovery and innovation, 
b. Industrial manufacturing and international trade, 
c. Sustaining the quality of life and the global environment. 
2.  The unique role of the BIPM is based on its international and neutral character enabling it: 
a. To coordinate the realization and improvement of the world-wide measurement system 
to ensure that it delivers accurate and comparable measurement results. 
b. To undertake in its laboratories scientific and technical activities in support of this 
system that are more efficiently carri ed out on behalf of Member States. 
c. To promote the importance of metrology to science, industry and society, in particular 
through collaboration with other intergovernmental organizations and international bodies and in international fora. 
3.  The unique role of the BIPM enables it to achieve its mission by developing the technical and 
organizational infrastructure of the International System of units (SI) as the basis for the world-wide traceability of measurement results. This is achieved both through technical activities in its 
laboratories and through coordination activities. 
2  NEWS AND DEVELOPMENTS 
4.  We have welcomed two new Member States this year. The Republic of Lithuania, an Associate 
since 2001, acceded and became a full Member State on the 16th April 2015. The United Arab 
Emirates also became a Member State of the BIPM, acceding on the 27th April 2015. 
Unfortunately, having failed to pay subscription for three years, Sri Lanka was excluded as an Associate at the end of 2014, and the Dominican Republic, a Member State with whom the BIPM 
had concluded a rescheduling arrangement for the repayment of outstanding arrears, was also G/TBT/GEN/188 
 
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  excluded at the end of 2014 due to its failure to  maintain payments in accordance with that 
arrangement. 
3  THE 25TH CGPM WAS HELD IN NOVEMBER 2014 5.  Five Resolutions were adopted, addressing th e revision of the International System of Units, 
the SI, the election of the CIPM, addressing the BIPM Pension Fund, the Dotation of the BIPM for 
the years 2016-2019, and the review of the CIPM MRA. The Resolutions are available on the BIPM 
website. 
4  REDEFINITION – THE REVISION OF THE SI 
6.  Work towards redefinition continues new definitions of the kilogram, ampere, kelvin, and mole 
in terms of fixed numerical values of the Planck  constant, elementary charge, Boltzmann constant, 
and Avogadro constant, respectively continues. The scientific results have converged such that the 
expectation remains that redefinition will occur at  the General Conference (CGPM) in 2018. Work is 
advanced on the new mise en pratiques, that is the set of instructions that allows the definition to be realized in practice at the highest level. 
7.  The 9th edition of the SI brochure is being finalised in anticipation of redefinition and is either 
opened for consultation (for some chapters),  or will shortly be (for the remainder). 
5  CIPM CHANGES 
8.  The 25th CGPM saw the introduction of a new process of election for CIPM Members. Members 
are now elected to a term that begins at the first CIPM meeting to take place no later than six months after the CGPM meeting at which they are elected, and ends at the beginning of the CIPM 
meeting that follows the next meeting of the CG PM. The elections resulted in seven Members who 
had not previously been on the CIPM. Full details are available on the BIPM website. 
6  CIPM MUTUAL RECOGNITION ARRANG EMENT (CIPM MRA) AND THE BIPM KEY 
COMPARISON DATABASE (KCDB) 
9.  The 'Mutual Recognition Arrangement of Nati onal Measurement standards and of calibration 
and measurement certificates issued by National Metrology Institutes' (CIPM MRA): The CIPM MRA has been signed by the representatives of 98 inst itutes – from 55 Member States, 40 Associates of 
the CGPM, and 4 international organizations – and covers a further 152 institutes designated by 
the signatory bodies. After some 15 years and following on from Resolution 5 adopted at the General Conference in 2014 the CIPM MRA is to undergo a review of its implementation and operation. The main challenge looking forward is around the workload associated with the 
underpinning comparisons and peer review proc esses, and how to take advantage of the 
confidence that has been established to ensure the CIPM MRA remains sustainable as participation continues to grow. The KCDB database, operating on an old software platform, will inevitably be 
upgraded alongside other changes resulting from the review. The NMI Directors, with 
presentations from invited stakeholders (including WTO), met for two days in October 2015 to focus on the review. Information was exchanged on the challenges and a variety of ideas and 
concepts were presented. A formal working group of NMI Directors was established under the 
chairmanship of the CIPM President to take the review forward, and will aim to have a fully detailed proposal for discussion at the next annual meeting of NMI Directors. 
7  BIPM WORKSHOPS 
10.  The BIPM hosted a two day Workshop on Global to Urban Scale Carbon Measurements on the 
30 June and 1 July 2015. The aims of the workshop  were to identify requirements for advanced 
measurements, standards, reference data, and instrument comparisons for carbon measurement 
and other related climate variables to enable a complete global monitoring system for greenhouse 
gases to be operational and useful for validated greenhouse gas flux and emission calculations and 
for the verification of emission inventories. Fu rthermore, approaches to be undertaken for the 
development of an international roadmap for standards, reference data, and instrument 
comparisons for global greenhouse gas measurements and other related climate variables and greenhouse gas emission inventories were explored . Abstracts and presentations are available on G/TBT/GEN/188 
 
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  line. This workshop, and a JCGM workshop on the GUM also held in June, were landmark for the 
BIPM in that for the first time the main plenary sessions were webcast live. These webcasts are also available on the BIPM webpages. 
8  WORKING WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS 
11.  The BIPM works with a large number of othe r international/intergovernmental organisations, 
including the, the WMO, the IAEA and of course WTO. Probably the closet collaboration is with the 
OIML, our sister organisation responsible for Legal metrology, that is the application of legal 
requirements to measurements and measuring inst ruments. The two organisations joint run, for 
example, the 'World Metrology Day' initiative has become an excellent tool for raising awareness of the contribution of metrology to economic and so cial development. The theme for 2015 is aligned 
with the UNESCO International Year of Light and Light based technologies, with the strapline 
'Measurements and Light'. Yet again we achieved record participation, with 36 countries organising 
events, and 24 versions of the poster produced by pa rticipating institutes, in addition to the formal 
English and French versions produced by the team. The theme for 2016 has been chosen 
('Measurements in a dynamic world') and design work on the 2016 poster, overseen jointly by the 
two organisations, has begun in collaboration with VNIIMS in Russia. BIPM and OIML work alongside each other in a wide range of forums, including the quadripartite arrangement with ILAC 
and ISO, in the working groups of the JCGM, in the DCMAS Network were we are jointly looking to 
overhaul the dedicated website, and more recently within the ISO CASCO WG44 looking at the revision of ISO/IEC 17025. 
9  BIPM CAPACITY BUILDING AN D KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PROGRAMME 
12.  It is recognised that all advanced nations already participate in the activities of the BIPM. 
Many Member States and Associates who have joined recently have emerging metrology systems, and that will be the case for all future potential participants. A proposal for a dedicated BIPM 
Visitor Programme aimed at helping those with emerging metrology systems engage effectively in 
the international system did not receive the consensus needed to increase the BIPM budget to fund the VP. However the ideas and principles were widely supported by many Member States. 
Consequently the Resolution addressing the BIPM funding was amended to encourage Member 
States, as well as international organizations, private organizations and foundations to support specific BIPM mission-related activities, particularly those that facilitate participation in the activities of the BIPM by those countries without well-developed metrology infrastructure. Building 
on the discussions at the CGPM the BIPM has since developed a Capacity Building and Knowledge 
Transfer Programme (BIPM CBKT). The activities are opened for support by voluntary contributions. The programme aims to enhance engagement from Member States and Associates 
with emerging metrology systems, and to aid wider sharing of the workload of operating the CIPM 
MRA. The programme offers a 'Menu' of possible activities allowing donors to focus their support on those they consider most worthwhile. Funding has already been secured (from NIST in the 
USA) to enable the BIPM to run two training courses (including financial support for the participant 
costs). The first is scheduled for late 2016 aimed at new and potential technical committee and working group chairs, and the second is scheduled for late 2017 and is aimed at those newly engaged in the CIPM MRA. 
10  BIPM WORK PROGRAMME 2016-2019 
13.  The BIPM will begin a new four year Work Programme in January 2016. For the first time 
detailed resource per project information has been provided, along with clear deliverables. The 
development of this WP followed a more rigorous  and formal consultation process than had been 
the case historically. As a consequence it was approved without changes at the CGPM. The WP is openly available on the BIPM website. 
11  BIPM CHANGES 
14.  Following the retirement of Dr. Claudine Thomas, the KCDB Coordinator role has been taken 
over by Dr. Susanne Picard. The Mass and Electricity Departments were merged in October 2015 to form a single Physical Metrology De partment headed by Dr. Michael Stock. 
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