Support to EU metrology infrastructure

The EU internal market, international trade as well as EU legislation in many sectors depend on chemical measurement results. Reliable measurements are needed to allow recognition of measurement results across borders and to reduce technical barriers to trade. Conception, implementation and monitoring of EU legislation in a uniform way across an enlarged EU requires standardisation and assessment of the quality of measurement results provided by the control laboratories.

The measurement infrastructure in Europe is supported by international and European organisations like European Accreditation (EA), European Organisation for Standardisation (CEN) and the network of the European metrology institutes (EUROMET), a European collaboration in measurement standards. These organisations rely on technical assistance from the Member States and IRMM, which is a signatory of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) of the International Committee of Weights and Measures (CIPM) along with the world’s leading metrology institutes, and a member of the EUROMET.

IRMM organises interlaboratory comparisons in close collaboration with EA and the Directorates-General for Enterprise and Taxation and Customs Union. The International Measurement Evaluation Programme (IMEP) enables assessing in how far laboratory accreditation is equivalent across the Member States. For instance, IRMM has organised an interlaboratory comparison for laboratories measuring sulfur routinely. 15 customs laboratories from the EU Member States participated, underpinning the activities of the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union to improve the quality of results in their field.

Research on measurement techniques and methodologies is performed in the framework of EUROMET and the key comparisons of the Bureau International de Poids et Mesures (BIPM) and its Comité Consultatif pour la Quantité de Matière (CCQM), establishing the best achievable measurement quality.

IRMM also organises key comparisons, which are linked to the BIPM key comparisons especially for radioactivity and chemical measurements, and provides high quality reference materials.




Last Update 10/02/2006