Regional and Africa affairs
NMISA coordinates and manages the activities of NMISA in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and in Africa in general. These activities include:
- operation of the secretariat of the SADC Cooperation in Measurement Traceability (SADCMET),
- interactions with other SADC and African organisations involved with metrology, for example SADCMEL, SADCSTAN, SADCA and the African Regional Standardisation Organisation (ARSO),
- NML activities concerned with other existing or emerging regional metrology organisations in Africa,
- bilateral cooperation agreements and joint projects with National Metrology Institutes in SADC and the rest of Africa,
- implementation of the SADC and Africa strategy of the NML.
Regional Metrology Organisations
The globalisation of metrology has gone hand in hand with the emergence of Regional Metrology Organisations (RMOs) which are in most cases umbrella organisations for the National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) in a particular region or trading block. The regions or trading blocks are essential elements in both the working of the Global Mutual Recognition Arrangement between National Metrology Institutes and in the International Arrangement to Enhance Trade between Laboratory Accreditation Organisations.
List of Regional Metrology Organisations:
- Asia-Pacific Metrology Programme (APMP)
- Euro-Asian Cooperation of National Metrological Institutions (COOMET)
- European Collaboration on Measurement Standards (EUROMET)
- Inter-American Metrology System (SIM)
- Middle East and Northern Africa Regional Metrology Cooperation (MENAMET) and
- SADC Cooperation in Measurement Traceability (SADCMET)
National Metrology Institutes (NMIs)
NMI's are usually created by legislation to establish a reference point for the National Measurement System. They provide measurement traceability to the measurement and test laboratories in the country and are the national link to the International System of Units (SI). The BIPM web site has a list of NMIs.