FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                       NIST 95-10
April 20, 1995

Contact:  Michael E. Newman                  METROLOGY FOR
          (301) 975-3025                     THE AMERICAS:
          e-mail: newman@micf.nist.gov       OAS NATIONS SEEK TO
                                             IMPROVE QUALITY,
                                             STANDARDS AND TRADE
                                             THROUGH
                                             COLLABORATION

     The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards
and Technology has announced that all 34 nations of the
Organization of American States have officially agreed to
participate in the Interamerican Metrology System (abbreviated
SIM for the Spanish translation, System Interamericana de
Metrologia), a recently reestablished organization seeking to
harmonize measurement standards among its members.  The original
SIM has been dormant since the 1970s and did not encompass all of
the Western Hemisphere nations.

     The rebirth of the SIM with 100-percent participation by OAS
nations marks the first successful interamerican effort toward
realizing two major goals set forth at the "Summit of the
Americas" held in December 1994--increasing cooperation in
science and technology within the Americas, and promoting
prosperity and free trade by eliminating technical trade
barriers.

     NIST--in cooperation with the OAS, U.S. Department of State,
the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Trade and
Development Agency, the National Science Foundation and the
metrology laboratories of the North American Free Trade Agreement
partners--revived the SIM through a series of workshops, seminars
and summits over the past six years.  The reactivated SIM will
seek to develop a strong interamerican infrastructure that uses
metrology and quality to enhance trade and commerce.  Members
focus on improving their national measurement and standards
activities, and then harmonizing these activities with each other
and the SIM as a whole.

     The SIM carries out its mission by:

>    fostering the development of standards and standard
     reference materials acceptable throughout the Americas;

>    establishing a series of regional workshops (dealing with
     issues such as quality, competitiveness, industrial
     modernization and sustainable development);

>    training advanced staff of its member nations in specialized
     metrology technology (including areas such as reference
     materials, calibrations, measurement techniques and quality
     testing); and

>    working to establish a true interamerican metrology system
     through international agreements (such as the collaborative
     program between the United States--represented by NIST--and
     Chile to improve techniques for analyzing environmental
     samples and advanced materials).

     The SIM is divided into five regional metrology
organizations: NORAMET, North American nations; CAMET, Central
American nations; ANDIMET, Northern South American nations;
SURAMET, Southern South American nations; and CARIMET, Caribbean
Island nations (see attached chart).  Each region selects
representatives to the SIM General Council, as well as to SIM
committees on technical metrology and professional development.
A council president is elected for a two-year term; the current
president is Jaime Gonz les Basurto of Mexico.

     Starting this summer, NIST will lead a series of
intercomparison projects to evaluate the measurement
capabilities, and move the SIM members toward mutually recognized
standards.

     For more information on the SIM, contact Stephen B.
Carpenter, Office of International and Academic Affairs,
A505 Administration Building, NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001,
(301) 975-4119, fax: (301) 975-3530, e-mail: carp@micf.nist.gov
(via Internet).

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