About International Organization of Legal Metrology:
- It is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1955 to promote the global harmonisation of legal metrology procedures.
- It is an international standard-setting body.
- Meeting: A meeting of the OIML Conference is held every four years to establish general policy, vote on the budget and confirm the decisions of the CIML.
- Headquarter: Paris
- Functions:
- It develops international recommendations, standards and related documents for measuring instruments used in trade, industry, healthcare, safety and environmental protection.
- It plays a crucial role in harmonising national laws and regulations on performance of measuring instruments like clinical thermometers, alcohol breath analysers, radar speed measuring instruments, ship tanks found at ports, and petrol dispensing units.
- It develops model regulations, standards and related documents for use by legal metrology authorities and industry.
- Members: There are 63 Member States (voting) and 66 Corresponding Members (nonvoting).
- India became a member of the OIML in 1956. In the same year, India signed the metric convention.
- India can issue Internationally Accepted OIML (International Organization of Legal Metrology) Certificates for selling weights & measures anywhere in the world. (There are 13 countries who can issues these certificates).
- To sell a weight or measure in the International market an OIML Pattern Approval certificate is mandatory.
- Administrative Structure: The International Committee of Legal Metrology (CIML) is the principal decision-making body responsible for guiding the technical and administrative activities of the OIML.
