www.nist.gov/pml/owm/international-legal-metrology Legal metrology is the practice and process of applying the regulatory structure and application to metrology. Since its inception, OIML has developed a set of guidelines to assist its members, particularly developing countries, in developing appropriate legislation for metrology in all sectors of society, as well as in developing guidelines for certification and calibration requirements for new products, especially where such calibration has legal implications, for example in the areas of trade, health care and taxation. In all these cases, legislation on measuring measures and instruments is necessary, as well as when the buyer and seller need to be protected in a commercial transaction or when measures are used to impose a penalty. Virtually all countries offer such protection by including metrology in their legislation – hence the term “legal metrology”. The Legal Metrology Devices Program is staffed by forensic metrology technicians with experience as weights and measures officers, weighing and measuring instrument evaluators and/or industrial services specialists. LTMP staff have served and continue to serve as technical advisors to committees and working groups such as the NCWM Specifications and Tolerances Committee (the NCWM committee reviewing proposed changes to the NIST 44 manual) and the technical areas of the national type evaluation program. LMDP staff also worked with the weighting and calibration community to develop test procedures, field manuals, and other materials to assist field workers in applying the requirements of the NIST 44 manual. The staff is also comprised of experienced trainers who have conducted numerous courses, seminars and presentations related to the inspection and testing of commercial weighing and measuring instruments, with the goal of improving consistency in the application of weights and measures standards and practices. The role of the OIML is to enable economies to establish effective, compatible and internationally recognized regulatory metrology infrastructures in all areas of government responsibility, such as those that facilitate trade, enhance mutual trust and harmonize the level of consumer protection worldwide. The European System of Units dates back to the International System of Units (SI).

The SI serves as a global standard, and EU law makes SI units the legal units used to indicate quantities in the EU. Legal metrology is the science of measurement. EU legislation on legal metrology is one of the pillars of the internal market for goods. EU requirements aim to promote innovation, public safety, environmental protection and fair trade. The International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML), an intergovernmental organization, was established by a diplomatic treaty signed in Paris on 12 October 1955 to promote global harmonization of legal metrology procedures that underpin and facilitate international trade. [4] Under French law, its main body, the International Conference on Legal Metrology, has diplomatic status. [5] In addition, OIML was a partner of the JCGM,[note 2] which produced the International Vocabulary of Metrology – Basic and General Concepts and Associated Terms (VIM), a document published by the BIPM on behalf of the JCGM. OIML works closely with other international organizations such as the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to ensure compatibility between the work of the two organizations. OIML has no legal authority to impose solutions on its members, but its recommendations are often used by Member States within the framework of their own national legislation.

The creation of global standards for use in legal metrology legislation is the task of OIML [Read more]. For this reason, legislation on measurements and measuring instruments is needed, and virtually all countries offer this protection by including metrology in their legislation – hence the term “legal metrology”. The objective of the OIML-CS is to facilitate, accelerate and harmonize the work of national and regional bodies responsible for the type assessment and approval of measuring instruments subject to legal metrological control. The OIML is managed by the French International Committee of Legal Metrology (CIML).