RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/135
15 June 2000
(00-2396)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS BY THE BUREAU INTERNATIONAL
DES POIDS ET MESURES (BIPM)
The following communication has been received from the Bureau International des Poids et
Mesures (BIPM) requesting observer status in the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade.
_______________
1. The BIPM is the executive body of the intergovernmental organization of the Metre
Convention, the intergovernmental treaty governing units of measurement and under which the
world's measurement system is maintained.
2. The removal of technical barriers to trade stemming from requirements for double testing of
goods in the exporting and importing countries requires mutual recognition and acceptance of
measurements and tests world-wide.
3. International traceability of measurements is also becoming increasingly important in
conformity assessment.
4. The Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) signed in Paris in October 1999 by the
directors of the national metrology institutes of all the major industrialized States of the world is
designed to provide the technical basis for wider agr eements related to trade and to regulatory affairs.
The MRA also includes provision for participation by the developing States at a cost much below that
of full membership of the Metre Convention.
5. The future application of the MRA, if it is to be efficient, requires that close contact be
maintained between the metrological developments in the national metrology institutes and the users
represented by those closely connected with international trade, particularly governments, industries,
accreditation and regulatory bodies.
6. The presence of the BIPM as an Observer in the Committee for Technical Barriers to Trade
would be an efficient way of ensuring a quick response of the metrological community to the evolving
requirements of international trade.
__________