RLMO RT 2020-10-08

Ruler

 

The 2020 meeting of the Regional Legal Metrology Organisations Round Table (RLMO RT) took place online
on Thursday, 8 October 2020 from 10:00–14:00 UTC.

 

Agenda (Click the links to download the presentations)

  1. Welcome by the RLMO RT Chairperson (Dr Charles Ehrlich)
  2. Roll call
  3. Overview of the RLMO discussion topics
  4. Updates from the RLMOs
    - AFRIMETS (Mr Jaco Marneweck)
    - APLMF (Mr Stephen O’Brien)
    - COOMET (Dr Peter Ulbig)
    - GULFMET (Eng. Omar Kanakrieh)
    - SIM (Mr Pedro Pérez Vargas)
    - WELMEC (Dr Pavel Klenovský)
  5. Update from SAARC (Mr Ashutosh Agarwal)
  6. Update from the CEEMS AG Chairperson (Mr Peter Mason)
  7. Update from the OIML-CS Executive Secretary (Mr Paul Dixon)
  8. Open Forum on the RLMO discussion topics
  9. Future collaborations
  10. Conclusions
  11. Any other business

 

List of RLMOs

  • AFRIMETS (Intra-Africa Metrology System)
  • APLMF (Asia-Pacific Legal Metrology Forum)
  • COOMET (Euro-Asian Cooperation of National Metrological Institutions)
  • GULFMET (Gulf Association for Metrology)
  • SIM (The Inter-American Metrology System)
  • WELMEC (European Cooperation in Legal Metrology)

 

Guest Organization

  • SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)

 

 

RLMO discussion topics

1. Under the current circumstances (pandemic, travel, financial, etc.), have any of your RLMOs been able to conduct any business since last October (in-person and/or online)?

2. How is your RLMO coping with the pandemic situation? What short-term and long-term changes you foresee to your RLMO?

3. How might the relationship between the OIML and the RLMOs be enhanced or augmented?

a. What do RLMOs do that the OIML does not or cannot do?
b. How can the OIML better help your region/economies? What are your most urgent regional/economies’ needs from the OIML (e.g., R 76 pilot, D 1, etc.)?
c. Does any duplication of activities exist within regional bodies, between regional bodies, and with the OIML?
d. In cases where RLMOs and RMOs are different organizations in the same region, how is coordination accomplished, both between themselves and with the BIML and the BIPM?

4. How might the scope of the RLMO Round Table be expanded to enhance collaboration and sharing of ideas beyond just reporting by the RLMO representatives at the annual RT meetings? How might the RLMO Round Table be restructured to better serve your needs?

a. Share training materials, including e-learning modules, among RLMOs?
b. Send representatives to each other’s RLMO meetings?
c. Formalize the relationships between the RLMOs and OIML, including development of Terms of Reference (ToR) for the RLMO Round Table?
d. Should the OIML formalize what it considers to be an RLMO (e.g., what kind of grouping is/represents an RLMO)? e.Should there be membership/participation criteria for the RLMO Round Table?

5. Should the individual RLMO reporting format at future RLMO Round Table meetings be standardized in order to focus discussion on certain topics? Topics could include:
a. Is your RLMO a legal entity? If not, are there plans to move in that direction?
b. Do you feel that there is ‘dumping’ of measuring instruments (that is, intentional sale of measuring instruments that do not meet verification requirements) going on in your region? If so, in what area(s)?
c. How do the economies in your region participate in the OIML-CS?
d. Are there any impediments to participation? e.Do the economies in your region accept OIML Certificates/Test data?

6. Does your RLMO have any suggestions on how the OIML Bulletin might become more valuable to your RLMO, and to the OIML, in the future?

a. What useful articles can your RLMO provide for the Bulletin?
b. Should the RLMO reports presented at the RLMO Round Table meeting be made available in a separate RLMO Round Table section of the OIML web site, and/or in the OIML Bulletin?

 

Of course, all of these possibilities would require resources (financial and time) that may not be available, and since some (most? all?) of the RLMOs are not legal entities a more formal relationship with the OIML might not be feasible. However, these are questions that could be explored as part of investigating whether an enhanced role/scope of the RLMO Round Table makes sense.

 

Hopefully we can all come prepared to discuss these things, and how the RLMO Round Table may become even better!

 

Download the Agenda and Discussion topics as a PDF file - Click here