Meter convention

The International Meter Convention , in Switzerland the meter contract , is an international treaty concluded on May 20, 1875, in which the 17 signatory states "guided by the desire to secure international unification and the perfecting of the metric system" agreed the establishment and financing of some institutions - of the very first international scientific institutions. In addition, it was decided to produce standards ( original meter and original kilogram ) for the units of measurement "meter" and "kilogram". The contract does not contain an obligation to adopt the metric system by the signatory states.

The content of the contract was revised in 1921 at the 6th CGPM (Conférence générale des poids et mesures). Currently (January 13, 2020) 62 states are party to the Meter Convention. In addition, the CGPM has 41 “associated member states” which do not fully participate in the financing and do not have voting rights. In 1960 the International System of Units (SI) was introduced. Since 2000, the signing has been commemorated annually on May 20th, the day of measurement .

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The Meter Convention established three bodies:

CGPM ( General Conference on Weights and Measures ; Conférence générale des poids et mesures) - a meeting of delegates from all signatory states every four to six years
CIPM ( International Committee for Weights and Measures ; Comité international des poids et mesures) - an administrative committee that meets annually in the BIPM
BIPM ( International Bureau of Weights and Measures ; Bureau international des poids et mesures) - an international center for units of measurement in Sèvres near Paris

There are also ten “advisory committees” (“CC”), for example the “Comité consultatif d'électricité et magnétisme (CCEM)”, which was founded in 1927 as the first CC under the then name “Comité consultatif d'électricité (CCE)” has been.

Member states

Member states of the Meter Convention

member

Associated

former member

German Reich Law Gazette of September 5, 1876: International Meter Convention. May 20, 1875.

First signatory in 1875

Today's member states

(As of May 24, 2019)

Associated countries and economies

(As of May 24, 2019)

Individual evidence

^ Member States / 1875 , BIPM
^ "Pour la première fois on fondait une institution scientifique internationale [...]" - Minutes of the 7th General Conference on Weights and Measures , 1927, page 17 [1] , accessed on Nov. 8, 2019
↑ ^a ^b BIPM website: About Us → List of Member States , accessed on July 7, 2019
↑ ^a ^b BIPM website: About Us → List of Associate States and Economies , accessed on July 7, 2019

Web links

Wikisource: International Meter Convention - Sources and full texts

Commons : Meter Convention - Collection of Images

Text of the Meter Convention in the currently valid version in the legal collection of the Swiss Confederation
Brief summary of the importance and history of the Meter Convention ( English , French ) by the BIPM
Member states and associates of the Meter Convention ( English , French ), list of the BIPM
Andree Böger, Knut Seibt: "200 years of the French standard, 130 years of the metric system in Germany"

[17erste-1] Member States / 1875 , BIPM

[ersteinternationale-2] "Pour la première fois on fondait une institution scientifique internationale [...]" - Minutes of the 7th General Conference on Weights and Measures , 1927, page 17 [1] , accessed on Nov. 8, 2019

[mitgl-heute-3] BIPM website: About Us → List of Member States , accessed on July 7, 2019

[assoz-heute-4] BIPM website: About Us → List of Associate States and Economies , accessed on July 7, 2019