Treaty of the Metre

1875

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June 30, 2026

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The Treaty of the Metre, signed in Paris on May 20, 1875, established the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). This international organization was created to unify measurement systems and preserve fundamental international standards. The convention provides for a General Conference to meet every four years to improve standards and an International Committee of Weights and Measures to monitor worldwide uniformity in units. The BIPM headquarters in Sèvres, France, serves as a depository for international standards and a laboratory for their certification and comparison. Metrology, the science of measurement, underpins this effort, with the International System of Units (SI) being a comprehensive system derived from fundamental quantities.12

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The Treaty of the Metre signed there provided for a permanent laboratory in Sèvres, near Paris, where international standards are kept, national standard copies inspected, and metrological research conducted. The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM), with diplomatic representatives of some 40 countries, meets every…
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The Treaty of the Metre signed there provided for a permanent laboratory in Sèvres, near Paris, where international standards are kept, national standard copies inspected, and metrological research conducted. The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM), with diplomatic representatives of some 40 countries, meets every…
Read More