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Recent international metric advances |
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Recent international metric advances |
Even though most of the world outside of the U.S. is already metric, here are some recent advances in what still remains non-metric internationally. Following are reprints of some articles from Metric Today and other sources.
These stories describe metric transitions that continue in places where metric is still not universal.
From the November-December 2009 issue of USMA's Metric Today.
The United Arab Emirates is continuing its move toward metric measurements, as well as other international standards, according to a 30 August 2009 report from Emirates Business 24/7. The Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA, www.esma.ae), established in 2001 but active only during the last four years, defines standards for the UAE. So far it has adopted more than 5,000 standards, most from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
One imminent measurement-related change is the sale of gasoline: Service stations are in the process of switching from Imperial gallons to liters. "Unification is agreed and implementation of that has already been started, and hopefully by the end of this year and beginning of next year, we will have lots of pump areas changed to liters. In January 2010, they must be all changed to liters," according to Mohamed Badri, Deputy Director-General of ESMA.
Another topic is land area, where, for example, Abu Dhabi uses metric measurements while Dubai is non-metric. Even more confusing, it's common to use square feet for land areas but square meters for floor space. Although ESMA will mandate metric units, the organization has only limited authority over each emirate's land or real estate body: "It is the role of ESMA to issue standards but the more specifics—such as industry practices—needs to be determined at the local government or municipal levels."
And, of course, metrication alone doesn't solve the problem. For example, asks Alan England, Director, Mena region at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, "How did the person who provided the original area quoted in the title document measure the size of the unit? Did they measure to the inside, middle, or outside of a shared or external brick wall? All or some part of the balcony? And did they include or exclude the air space in a unit with the upper floor set back in the entrance lobby?" Such measurements have yet to be standardized.
From the November-December 2010 issue of USMA's Metric Today.
The United Arab Emirates has announced the next stage of its metrication process. Previously, its service stations had switched from Imperial gallons to liters for gasoline sales as of 1 January 2010 (see the Nov-Dec 2009 Metric Today).
According to Mohammed Saleh Badri, acting director of the Emirates Authority for Standardization & Metrology (ESMA), "The next sector to start the shift will be land and plots. We held initial discussions with the land department and other government agencies to set up this unified transition. Other areas will shortly follow." The changes have been prompted by a UAE Cabinet decision in 2006 to standardize on SI.
According to John Morgan, the director of P&T Architects and Engineers in Dubai, the construction industry is already mostly metric, and "The government's decision to switch to the metric system is one we strongly support. The constant conversion can be time-consuming."
Property sales are not metric, but a real estate manager says the switch "makes the relationship between architects and ourselves easier, as we can take information directly from the plan."
ESMA will launch a media campaign later this year to educate consumers on how they will be affected.
From the May-June 2005 issue of USMA's Metric Today.
Recent announcements by an emerging Caribbean economic community suggest that a number of countries in the western hemisphere are already preparing for the European Union’s 2010 metric challenge.
Saint Lucia, independent from British rule since 1979, has decided to break away completely from British measurements as well, and expand the use of SI into all sectors of its society. The Caribbean Net News, in a March 2005 article, reported that the Saint Lucia Metrology Act of 2005 has empowered the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards (SLBS) and a “Metrification Board” to make the island nation’s measurement system exclusively metric.
Dr. Alison Plummer, SLBS Director, stated in the article that her country’s metric transition was to be “ . . . a critical part of enabling the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, so that we all use the same units to trade, [and that] we all speak the same language to trade.” Plummer went on to note that the island’s business sector, particularly the petroleum industry, has been a strong supporter of metrication. With regard to the public sector, she said that the Land Registry and the Customs Department were already using the metric system. Plummer also announced that a broad public education program will be launched to alert all Saint Lucians to the coming expansion of metric-system use.
Full metrication is intended to align Saint Lucia more closely with the 14 other member countries of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), an organization analogous to the European Common Market. CARICOM seeks to achieve economic integration through market forces, and promote intra-regional trade.
An article in The Jamaica Observer, Internet Edition, quoted Camella Rhone, spokesperson for a Caribbean inter-governmental agency, as stating, “If the region is to be serious about using the single market to facilitate trade, the international system of measurement has to be declared as the official language of measurement in trade.” Rhone noted that metrication in the CARICOM countries began with Trinidad’s changeover 25 years ago, and that the other countries in the community have gradually followed suit. Also in the Observer article, Dr. Plummer of Saint Lucia suggests that CARICOM metrication is consistent with the European Union’s (EU) Units of Measurement Directive, which, by 2010, will require trade in metric units exclusively.
Last February, Antigua and Barbuda, another CARICOM member state, announced a draft action plan to pass legislation that would set a metrication deadline, appoint a conversion board, and launch a public education campaign on the changeover. Dianne Lalla-Rodrigues, Bureau of Standards Director, joined her Saint Lucia counterpart in citing the EU’s Units of Measurement Directive as one of the reasons for her country’s push to metricate.
The announcements from these Caribbean nations reveal that the traditional list of the world’s remaining pre-metric countries (the U.S., Myanmar, and Liberia) has not accounted for those nations that have quietly continued the partial use of traditional measurement units. Brunei, a small Pacific Ocean country, has also started metrication efforts.
ED NOTE: Dr. Plummer also stated that metrication was intended to unite Saint Lucia with “. . . the rest of . . . the developed world.” Members of Congress who might have read her statement ought to feel that the U.S. is being left out, and should seek to follow her advice.
From the November-December 2010 issue of USMA's Metric Today.
Consolidated Foods Limited is the first company in St. Lucia’s retail, wholesale, and distribution businesses to go metric, according to a report in the St. Lucia Star. (St. Lucia is an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea.) As of 7 February 2010, the company’s Super J and Mega J markets, as well as its warehouses, switched to metric measurements, well ahead of the June 2010 deadline set by the government for conversion.
The company began the process last year with help from St. Lucia’s Metrication Secretariat and the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards. According to the Star, “The process was a very challenging one. It meant converting all measuring instruments, checkout lanes, and the company’s extensive databases of products to metric. Such an undertaking took the collaborative effort of an internal team comprising members of various departments diligently working over the last few months.
“Joanna Justin, head of CFL’s IT and Business Systems Department, says the most notable change for the customer is with the perishable and weighed items, such as local produce, which are now labeled in price per gram or kilogram rather than price per pound. It is this area, she says, that presents a bit of a challenge for customers.”
Charts, flyers, and posters are intended to help customers understand the changes. And according to the company, “It is important for our customers to understand that there have been no price increases as a result of the conversion to metric, just a change in the system of measurement used.
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Updated: 2012-02-05