---
metadata:
  title: 'Resolutions of the CGPM: 20th meeting'
  date: '1995-10-13'
  source: BIPM - Pavillon de Breteuil
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20
resolutions:
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: The need to use SI units in studies of Earth resources, the environment,
    human well-being and related issues
  identifier: 1
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/1/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=219
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that the effects on the geosphere and biosphere of industrial
      and commercial activities and of many other human pursuits, and the consequences
      for human health and well-being, are the subject of major studies world-wide,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that governments are increasingly faced with decisions of
      great economic and political significance concerning the regulation of these
      activities,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that the policies of governments are influenced by studies
      depending critically on accurate and mutually compatible measurements often
      requiring very large economic investments,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that much of the important scientific evidence required for
      decisions by governments comes from measurements of small changes in certain
      key parameters, measurements sometimes extending over several decades,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that certain critical measurements have traditionally been
      made in _ad hoc_ units based upon special instrumentation or procedures, and
      not in the well-characterized and internationally agreed SI units,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that experience over many years has shown that measurements
      not directly linked to the SI cannot be relied upon in the long term, cannot
      be compared with similar measurements made elsewhere and do not adequately bring
      out possible relationships with measurements made in other scientific disciplines,
  actions:
  - type: recommends
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*recommends* that those responsible for studies of Earth resources,
      the environment, human well-being and related issues ensure that measurements
      made within their programmes are in terms of well-characterized SI units so
      that they are reliable in the long term, are comparable world-wide and are linked
      to other areas of science and technology through the world?s measurement system
      established and maintained under the Convention du Mètre."
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: World-wide traceability of measurement standards
  identifier: 2
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/2/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=220
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the increasingly stringent requirements of science, technology
      and international trade for traceability in measurement at many levels of accuracy,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the existence of groups of cooperating national metrology
      laboratories in different regions of the world,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the need to demonstrate world-wide equivalence or traceability
      of measurement standards among national laboratories and regional groups of
      cooperating national laboratories,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the calibration services of the Bureau International des
      Poids et Mesures (BIPM) for the national laboratories,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the role of the BIPM in carrying out and coordinating world-wide
      comparisons of standards at the highest level among the national laboratories,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the necessary participation of national laboratories in international
      comparisons,
  - type: recognizing
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*recognizes* the global advantages of interconnections between the comparisons
      carried out under the auspices of the BIPM and those of the regional groups
      of metrology laboratories,"
  actions:
  - type: welcomes
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*welcomes* the trend towards regional grouping of national metrology
      laboratories as an efficient way of promoting cooperation and regular comparisons
      of national standards among laboratories, some of which do not participate in
      comparisons carried out by the BIPM or the Comités Consultatifs,"
  - type: recommends
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: recommends that national metrology laboratories, in collaboration with
      the BIPM, ensure that the necessary comparisons between national standards are
      carried out in sufficient number to demonstrate international traceability of
      measurement standards,
  - type: recommends
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: recommends that adequate interconnections are maintained between the
      comparisons carried out under the auspices of the BIPM and those carried out
      by the regional groups,
  - type: recommends
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: recommends and that the results of comparisons carried out by the regional
      groups be communicated to the BIPM in appropriate form for them to be published
      by the BIPM and thereby given wide international recognition.
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: The need for long-term metrological research
  identifier: 3
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/3/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=221
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the continual increase in demand for accurate and efficient
      measurement in science, technology and international trade,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that the development of improved measurement standards and
      techniques needs to be carried out well in advance of their application in science
      and industry,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that these developments can only take place on the basis
      of a solid foundation of long-term metrological research closely linked to advances
      in science,
  actions:
  - type: recommends
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: recommends that national laboratories continue to undertake long-term
      metrological research as well as meeting the more immediate requirements of
      measurement services and
  - type: recommends
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: recommends that national laboratories keep the Bureau International des
      Poids et Mesures informed as to the results of the work related to fundamental
      metrology.
  subject: national laboratories
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: Revision of the mise en pratique of the definition of the metre
  identifier: 4
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/4/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=221
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: recalling / further recalling
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: |-
      *recalling*

       that in 1983 the 17th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures adopted a new definition of the metre,
       that in the same year the Conférence Générale invited the Comité International des Poids et Mesures

      * to draw up instructions for the practical realization of the metre,
      * to choose radiations which can be recommended as standards of wavelength for the interferometric measurement of length and draw up instructions for their use,
      * to pursue studies to improve these standards and, in due course, to extend or revise these instructions,
       that in response to this invitation the Comité International made recommendations in 1983 concerning the practical realization of the metre (the _mise en pratique_),
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that science and technology continue to demand improved accuracy
      in the realization of the metre,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that since 1983 work in national laboratories, the Bureau
      International des Poids et Mesures and elsewhere has substantially improved
      the reproducibility of radiations which are suitable for the practical realization
      of the metre,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that such work has also substantially reduced the uncertainty
      in the determined values of the frequencies and wavelengths of some of these
      radiations,
  actions:
  - type: welcomes
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: |-
      *welcomes* the adoption by the Comité International of a revised _mise en pratique_ of the definition of the metre, taking account of the results of this new work,

      and
  - type: recommends
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*recommends* that national laboratories pursue their research on optical
      wavelength and frequency standards to improve yet further the experimental basis
      of the Système International d'Unités."
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: Monitoring the stability of the international prototype of the kilogram
  identifier: 5
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/5/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=222
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the results of the third periodic verification of national
      prototypes of the kilogram, which showed drifts, with respect to the international
      prototype, of the national prototypes and of the working copies and official
      copies held by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the fundamental impossibility of drawing definite conclusions
      from these results about the long-term stability of the international prototype
      and its copies,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the results of work in many national laboratories aimed at
      understanding the processes that lead to the instability of mass standards,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the progress now being made in various laboratories towards
      independent methods of monitoring the stability of mass standards,
  actions:
  - type: recommends
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*recommends* that national laboratories pursue their work on these experiments,
      and develop new ones, with a view to monitoring the stability of the international
      prototype of the kilogram and in due course opening the way to a new definition
      of the unit of mass based upon fundamental or atomic constants."
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: Clock comparison by satellite laser techniques
  identifier: 6
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/6/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=222
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the need for long distance time transfer at the highest possible
      level of accuracy,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that successful time transfer with a precision of 100 ps
      has been achieved between Western Europe and North America using the LASSO (Laser
      Synchronization from Satellite Orbit) experiment on a geostationary satellite,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that time transfer techniques, such as GPS (Global Positioning
      System), GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and two-way satellite
      time transfer, need an independent means of assessment of their accuracy,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that solutions have been proposed that may lead to clock
      synchronization by laser techniques using non-geostationary satellites,
  - type: recalling / further recalling
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*recalling* cgpm-resolution:en/18/4[Resolution 4 of the 18th Conférence
      Générale] in 1987, which also concerns clock comparison by satellite techniques,"
  actions:
  - type: recommends
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*recommends* that the space agencies consider the installation on their
      satellites of appropriate equipment for clock comparison by satellite laser
      techniques."
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: Metrology in chemistry
  identifier: 7
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/7/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=223
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that reliability in the results of quantitative chemical
      analyses is important for international trade, for the protection of the environment,
      and for human health and safety,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that reliability implies world-wide uniformity and long-term
      stability and can only be achieved by firmly linking measurements to the Système
      International d'Unités,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that formidable difficulties exist in establishing international
      traceability for measurements in chemistry,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that national metrology laboratories are increasingly involved
      in establishing such a system,
  actions:
  - type: welcomes
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: |-
      *welcomes* the action of the Comité International in creating for this field a Comité Consultatif pour la Quantité de Matière

      and
  - type: invites / further invites
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*invites* national metrology laboratories, other expert national, regional
      and international organizations bringing together specialists in measurement
      in chemistry to collaborate with the Comité International and the new Comité
      Consultatif in establishing world-wide traceability at the highest level for
      measurements in chemistry."
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: Elimination of the class of supplementary units in the SI
  identifier: 8
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/8/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=223
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: 'considering that the 11th Conférence Générale in 1960 in its cgpm-resolution:en/11/12[Resolution
      12], establishing the Système International d''Unités, SI, distinguished between
      three classes of SI units : the base units, the derived units, and the supplementary
      units, the last of these comprising the radian and the steradian,'
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that the status of the supplementary units in relation to
      the base units and the derived units gave rise to debate,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that the Comité International des Poids et Mesures, in 1980,
      having observed that the ambiguous status of the supplementary units compromises
      the internal coherence of the SI, has in its cipm-resolution:en/1980/1[Recommendation
      1 (CI-1980)] interpreted the supplementary units, in the SI, as dimensionless
      derived units,
  actions:
  - type: approves
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*approving* the interpretation given by the Comité International in
      1980,"
  - type: decides
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: decides to interpret the supplementary units in the SI, namely the radian
      and the steradian, as dimensionless derived units, the names and symbols of
      which may, but need not, be used in expressions for other SI derived units,
      as is convenient,
  - type: decides
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: decides and, consequently, to eliminate the class of supplementary units
      as a separate class in the SI.
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: Dotation of the BIPM
  identifier: 9
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/9/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=224
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the importance of the work carried out by the Bureau International
      des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) and the services it renders to Member States of
      the Convention du Mètre,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the considerable efforts made by the BIPM to enhance the
      efficiency of its operation, and its commitment to continue these efforts,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the need to provide the resources necessary for the efficient
      carrying out of the tasks given to it by the Conférence Générale,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the difficult economic situation now existing in many Member
      States of the Convention du Mètre,
  actions:
  - type: decides
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: |-
      *decides* that the fixed part of the annual dotation of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures will be increased in a way such that the sum of the fixed part and the complementary part (defined by Article 6; (1921) of the Rules annexed to the Convention du Mètre 1875) shall, for those States members of the Convention du Mètre at the time of the 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures, be

      |===
      | 27 144 000 gold francs in 1997

      | 28 365 000 gold francs in 1998
      | 29 642 000 gold francs in 1999
      | 30 976 000 gold francs in 2000.

      |===
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: Future relations with the Organisation Internationale de Métrologie Légale
  identifier: 10
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/10/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=224
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the proposal made by the French government for a rapprochement
      between the organizations created by the Convention du Mètre and the Treaty
      of the Organisation Internationale de Métrologie Légale (OIML) with a view to
      a possible fusion of the two organizations,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the agreement among many Member States of the Convention
      du Mètre that the joint discussions envisaged in the French proposal would be
      desirable,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering that these discussions should take into particular account
      the continuing need to optimize the effectiveness of intergovernmental organizations
      in carrying out their tasks, now as well as in the long term,
  actions:
  - type: invites / further invites
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: |-
      *invites* the President of the Comité International des Poids et Mesures, together with the President of the Comité International de Métrologie Légale, to appoint a joint working party to identify ways of achieving increased cooperation and effectiveness in the achievement of their objectives and the use of their resources, including, but not limited to, the possibility of merging the two organizations,

      and
  - type: requests
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*requests* that the Comité International des Poids et Mesures having
      received the Report of its President, advise Member States of the Convention
      du Mètre of the outcome of the discussions and of its opinion as to whether
      further action should be taken."
- dates:
  - '1995-10-13'
  title: 'Metrology: long-term needs'
  identifier: 11
  url: https://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/20/11/
  reference: https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/CGPM/CGPM20.pdf#page=225
  approvals:
  - type: affirmative
    degree: unanimous
    message: The 20th Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures,
  considerations:
  - type: having / having regard
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*referring* to cgpm-resolution:en/20/1[Resolution 1]: The need to use
      SI units in studies of Earth resources, the environment, human well-being and
      related issues, cgpm-resolution:en/20/2[Resolution 2]: World-wide traceability
      of measurement standards, and cgpm-resolution:en/20/3[Resolution 3]: The need
      for long-term metrological research,"
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the particular impact of metrology on the economic growth
      and international trade of Member States,
  - type: considering
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: considering the contribution to these of the Bureau International des
      Poids et Mesures (BIPM) and the national metrological laboratories,
  actions:
  - type: requests
    date_effective: '1995-10-13'
    message: "*requests* the Comité International des Poids et Mesures to study and
      report on the long-term national and international needs relating to metrology,
      the appropriate international collaborations and the unique role of the BIPM
      to meet these needs, and the financial and other commitments that will be required
      from the Member States in the coming decades."