Metrology law application document imminent

The Secretary General (SG) in the Ministry of Trade (MINCOMMERCE), Haman Oumar, says texts of application of the April 21, 2004 law on legal metrology in Cameroon is under drafting and will greatly boost the activities of the sector once complete and endorsed.

Speaking in Yaounde yesterday May 26 during commemorative activities to mark this year’s World Metrology Day, Haman Oumar said government is unwavering in ensuring that norms on weight and measures are respected to the letter.

The April 21, 2004 law on legal metrology whose texts of application are in gestation seeks to provide citizens with correct measurements on trade, environmental protection, health and safety.

On the field, the Ministry of Trade, through its central and external services, is tasked with enforcing the law by approving the design of measuring instruments, auditing and monitoring high-capacity measuring instruments, calibrating tanks and tankers, controlling pre-packaged products in factories, and issuing licenses to importers, manufacturers and repairers of measuring instruments.

According to the Director of Metrology, Quality and Price at MINCOMMERCE, David Tsegui, the training of staff on metrology as well as verifying and monitoring small and medium-size capacity measuring instruments are also upheld.

This year’s commemoration placed on the theme, “Measurements and the global energy challenge,” stakeholders said, is timely for Cameroon looking at the growth objectives of the country and energy projects either ongoing or in the pipeline.

World Metrology Day, they noted, celebrates May 20, 1875 Metre Convention which sets the framework for global collaboration in the science of measurement and in its industrial, commercial and societal application.

The worldwide uniformity of measurement which is the initial aim of the Metre Convention, the SG like other speakers said, remains as important today as it was in 1875.