WORLD METROLOGY DAY 2023

World Metrology Day - 20 May 2023
Measurements supporting the global food system

Food is a major concern for every one of us. Providing access to safe and affordable food remains one of the major challenges for governments worldwide. This is also the goal of farmers and food producers who trade products through distributors and retailers to consumers at international, national and local levels. In 2021, this trade was worth 22 trillion USD and accounted for approximately 20 % of all global trade.

To trade internationally and to access markets for high-value products, producers must be able to show that they meet food standards. Additionally, governments need to ensure safety and fair trade especially in local markets for food. All of this is supported by reliable measurements of the quantity and quality of the primary and processed food products involved.

Our focus for World Metrology Day in 2023 is on the many measurement challenges that must be addressed to make the global food system work. For example:

the quantity of food bought and sold is measured according to its mass or volume. These measurements range from the large volumes of grain and wheat traded internationally down to rapid online weighing measurements to ensure pre-packaged goods are labelled correctly;
the effective storage and packaging of food depends on the accurate control of the temperature and humidity of its storage environment;
the quality and authenticity of food is determined by measuring its chemical composition. This requires measurements to ensure that it contains the stated levels of vitamins through to measurements of its isotopic composition to validate the origin of high-value foods such as honey or wine; and
the safety of food is ensured by careful measurement to detect the presence of chemical contamination such as pesticide residues and heavy metals or biological contamination such as mycotoxins.

It is now recognised that the depletion of natural resources and the impact of climate change pose major challenges to the global food system such that the goal of a world with zero hunger and universal access to clean water was included amongst the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations.

We again look forward to celebrating World Metrology Day with our stakeholders around the world.

WORLD METROLOGY DAY 2021

Theme: Measurement for Health

May 20 is World Metrology Day, commemorating the anniversary of the signing of the Metre Convention in 1875. This treaty provides the basis for a worldwide coherent measurement system that underpins scientific discovery and innovation, industrial manufacturing and international trade, as well as the improvement of the quality of life and the protection of the global environment.

The theme for World Metrology Day 2021 is Measurement for Health. This theme was chosen to create awareness of the important role measurement plays in health, and thus in the wellbeing of every one of us.

Across the world, national metrology institutes continually advance measurement science by developing and validating new measurement techniques at the necessary level of sophistication. The national metrology institutes participate in measurement comparisons coordinated by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) to ensure the reliability of measurement results worldwide.

The International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) develops International Recommendations, which aim to align and harmonise requirements worldwide in many fields. The OIML also operates the OIML Certification System (OIML-CS) which facilitates international acceptance and global trade of regulated measuring instruments.

These international metrology systems provide the necessary assurance and confidence that measurements are accurate, providing a sound basis for global trade today and helping us to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.

World Metrology Day recognises and celebrates the contribution of all the people that work in intergovernmental and national metrology organisations and institutes throughout the year.

WORLD METROLOGY DAY 2020

May 20 is World Metrology Day, commemorating the anniversary of the signing of the Metre Convention in 1875. This treaty provides the basis for a worldwide coherent measurement system that underpins scientific discovery and innovation, industrial manufacturing and international trade, as well as the improvement of the quality of life and the protection of the global environment.

The theme for World Metrology Day 2020 is Measurements for global trade. This theme was chosen to create awareness of the important role measurement plays in facilitating fair global trade, ensuring products meet standards and regulations, and satisfying customer quality expectations.

The Grenada Bureau of Standards (GDBS) celebrates with the metrology community World Metrology Day and recognizes the importance measurement play in global trade. As the name suggests, the purpose of choosing this particular theme is to highlight the importance of global trade when it comes to metrology aka role of measurement. Also, several factors are kept in mind with respect to international standards, customer expectation, reliable results amid others. As the quality of life is widely impacted by global trade, the science measurement in today's time plays an indispensable role in the world of innovation.

Apart from ensuring equity in trade, measurement affects every aspect of our daily lives and during this COVID-19 pandemic, measurements have played a critical role in our efforts to combat this virus. The importance of temperature measurements, the testing of safety equipment for compliance to relevant standards are just a few areas where measurements have played a critical role. Reliability of test results, accreditation, metrology, certification and standards are vital to ensure that health services can combat the novel coronavirus, to maintain the continuity of vital supply chains during the lockdown, to develop the new technologies being created to address the crisis, and to ensure occupational health and safety and organizational resilience in the post-crisis period.

Each year World Metrology Day is organized and celebrated jointly by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) with the participation of the national organizations responsible for metrology.