According to the Decisions of the 38th and 39th CIML Meetings and of the 12th International Conference, the implementation of the Mutual Acceptance Arrangement (MAA) will begin immediately with the following two categories:

• R 60 Load cells; and
• R 76 Non Automatic weighing instruments.

Certain specific conditions for the MAA implementation were decided on at the 39th CIML Meeting (operation of the MAA) and at the 12th OIML Conference (financial conditions) in Berlin this year. The Decisions and Resolutions of these two meetings can be downloaded from the OIML web site at the following address:
http://www.oiml.org/download/docs/ciml/12_conf_39_ciml_dc_decisions.pdf

A dedicated MAA sub-site has also been developed by the BIML, the objective of which is to publish information about the MAA implementation. This sub-site can be accessed directly from the main OIML web site.

Candidacies for participation in the two Declarations of Mutual Confidence (DoMCs) are now open and OIML Issuing Authorities intending to participate and to issue Certificates and Test Reports under these DoMCs are requested to send their application to the BIML at the latest by January 15, 2005 with a copy to their CIML Member. It should be noted that this application does not formally commit participants to sign once the DoMC is finalized.

Other participants from OIML Member States who wish to participate, but who will not be issuing Certificates and Test Reports under these DoMCs, are kindly requested to make their intentions known to the Bureau by the same deadline, so that they can be represented in the Committees on Participation Review (CPR) which are provided for in these DoMCs.

Candidates for the first category (Issuing Authorities who intend to issue Certificates and Test Reports under the DoMCs) will be required to pay to the Bureau a fee of 1 500 € (one thousand five hundred Euros) in counterpart for the Bureau's workload related to the processing of their application. These participating Issuing Authorities shall then be bound to provide technical experts free of charge for up to two peer assessments per year.

Participation is free of charge for those bodies who do not intend to issue Certificates and Test Reports under the DoMC.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the content of the file that must accompany the application:

• The latest internal audit report, as specified in OIML B 10-1; OIML B 10-2 may be utilized for this;
• If applicable, a copy of the accreditation certificates for the applicants and their subcontractors; these accreditation certificates must clearly specify the scope of accreditation;
• Evidence, if applicable, that these accreditations have been issued under the ILAC MRA;
• The questionnaire on capabilities for type testing (Annex C of OIML B 10-1) duly completed;
• If available, results of relevant intercomparisons;
• A list of subcontractors indicating, for each subcontractor, which tests he performs.

We respectfully insist on the necessity to respect the deadlines given above, as we plan on proceeding to the signature of the DoMCs as soon as possible, and the time schedule is relatively tight.

After having received the applications and after having been notified of the intentions of the other participants, the Bureau will ask the CIML Members to designate representatives for the CPRs and to propose technical experts for the peer assessments. The provisional composition of the CPRs will then be fixed and the study of the application will commence.

CIML Members are invited to forward this Circular to their OIML Issuing Authorities and to any national type approval body or national responsible body that may be concerned by the MAA implementation.

We eagerly look forward to the implementation of the MAA and invite you to contact the BIML should you have any queries or require further information.

 

J.F. Magaña
BIML Director