International Bureau of Weights and Measures
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures is the English translation of the name of the Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM), a standards organisation, one of the three organisations established to maintain the International System of Units (SI) under the terms of the Convention du Mètre (Metre Convention). Note that the French name (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures) is most of the time used instead of the English translation, and that the abbreviation IBWM is not used at all.
It is based at the Pavillon de Breteuil in Sèvres, France, where it enjoys extraterritorial status. As such, it escaped German occupation during World War II.
According to its official site:
- The task of the BIPM is to ensure world-wide uniformity of measurements and their traceability to the International System of Units (SI).
It does this with the authority of the Convention du Mètre, a diplomatic treaty between fifty-one nations (as of 2005), and it operates through a series of Consultative Committees, whose members are the national metrology laboratories of the Member States of the Convention, and through its own laboratory work.
The BIPM carries out measurement-related research. It takes part in, and organises, international comparisons of national measurement standards, and it carries out calibrations for Member States.
The other organisations which maintain the SI system are:
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