International collaboration in producing and using standard specimens

Abstract

UDC Dam are given on the first steps in oryanizing collaboration over standard specimens in various international olLoanizations including the ISO and hTternational Organization of LeyalInterest rose in international contacts and the organization of collaboration in using standard specimens (SS) in metrological studies increased when in the 1970s a number of countries began to draw up principles and approaches for unifying measurements in the determination of composition and properties for many substances and materials produced in industry.International collaboration on this began to be discussed almost sinmltaneously in various international organizations: in 1972, a special working group at the International Organization for Legal Metrology prepared proposals ola setting up a Secretariat in it (SP-27) on the use of SS in legal metrology: in 1975. after suitable preparations, the first meeting was held of the REMPA working group at ISO, which in 1977 was translormed into the REMCO Special Committee of the ISO Council, whose membership was substantially extended by comparison with REMPA. In 1973, a working grnup was set up in the Comecon framework concerned with scientific collaboration in the area of SS as part of the Comecon Standing Commission on Standardization.In the 1980s, the World Health Organization (WHO) showed considerable interest in the SS problem; there were also various other organizations now represented in the ISO Com,nittee REMCO: the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the International Atomic Energy Agency (tAEA). and some others.In recent years, there have been very substantial changes in the collaboration between the countries in Central and Eastern Europe in connection with global political events, but in spire of those changes, the collaboration of the countries in that region over SS continues and maintains a fairly high scientific potential.The new states arising within the Commonwealth oI Independent States (CIS) set up the Intergovernmental Council on Standardization, Metrology, and Certification (IGC), and in that lramcwork collaboration continued between the fornler USSR republics. Also, in 1991, COOMET was tbrmed as the international organization of government metrological organizations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which had a separate area lor collaboration over standard specimens for the composition and properties of substances and materials.These major international organizations are not isolated in carrying out their activities and show a tendency to come together, and in any case collaborate in meetings and over the official adoption of their representatives and maintain contacts.Our task is not to give a detailed chronological survey of the events or a detailed analysis of the activities of all these organizations. We consider that some interest attaches to the collaboration developrnent trends and the state of the matter in the newly created organizations: the Intergovemmental Council of the CIS and COOMET, whose activities involve ma...