The National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) will hold their annual meeting in St. Paul, Minn., from July 11-15, 2010.
The theme of this year's annual meeting is "Breaking Molds to Shape the Future." The agenda will include open hearings, work sessions and technical presentations and culminate with the voting session to address proposals to modify the United States weights and measures requirements. Topics slated for the conference include inkjet and printer cartridges, agricultural seed counts, pasta, as well as a method of sale for hydrogen fuel.
Under U.S. law, each state or territory as well as the District of Columbia and the Navajo Nation has the authority to regulate weights and measures within their borders. The NCWM is a voluntary organization of weights and measures regulatory officials, manufacturers of measuring devices, industries and industry associations, federal agency representatives and consumer advocates. Together, they develop model laws and regulations for legal metrology in the United States. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) supports the work of the NCWM by providing technical advice and publishing NIST handbooks that are adopted into state law. Most states and territories adopt these NIST handbooks in one form or another through their legislature or by rule.
The event is open to the press and the public. Contact NIST's Weights and Measures Division, owm [at] nist.gov (owm[at]nist[dot]gov), (301) 975-4004, with questions.
For more information and to register [registration closed], see www.ncwm.net/content/2001-ncwm-annual-meeting.