APLMF Newsletter August 2016

Dear Members,

I am pleased to update you on APLMF activities since our last Newsletter (May 2016).

23rd APLMF Meeting, November 2016, Japan – Registrations open

This year’s meeting is being hosted by Japan at their AIST offices, Tokyo Waterfront, 23 – 25 November 2016.  Invitations have been sent to full members, corresponding members and related international and regional organisations on 20th July and the webpages for the meeting are now live www.aplmf.org/japan2016

Online registrations close 20th October.  However, those economies requiring visa support will need to register before 31 August.  A draft programme is also now posted on the website. 

Economy Reports - New approach

We are trialling a new approach for Economy Reports for this year's APLMF meeting in Tokyo.  The new report reflects the ideas you developed in Hawaii last year on how to improve processes for our annual meetings.

We are asking all members to prepare their economy report and submit it to the Secretariat by 20 October 2016 (one month before we meet in Tokyo).  This will enable members to review your economy report before the meeting and allow you to deliver a shorter presentation that focuses on the highlights in your report.

We also hope that if members can review material early, we can have a more engaging discussion with the audience on the issues you raise in your presentation.

We have developed a template for economy reports, which will be uploaded to the APLMF meeting website page, together with an example of the 2015 New Zealand economy report in the new format, so you can see the style of report we think would be useful to fellow members.

Training Courses

As part of the Metrology Enabling Developing Economies in Asia (MEDEA) project, APLMF and APMP have run a number of successful training programmes to support developing economies.  This year APLMF and MEDEA are running three courses: 

• Verification of Fuel Dispensers Workshop was recently held in Pattaya Thailand. This is one of a series of courses supported by PTB. You can read more about their involvement on our website www.aplmf.org/medea
  
  

This course was designed for people who verify fuel dispensers or who have a responsibility for ensuring that fuel dispensers are verified in accordance with OIML recommendations.  The course was a mix of lectures and practical exercises.

We would like to formally thank the course hosts from Thailand, Mr Sakchai Hasamin and Ms Khemsai Rahannok who were very professional and supportive throughout the event.  The course was opened by Mr Sunchat Sinrat, Deputy Director General, from the Department of Internal Trade.

The training was overseen by Brad Larter from Australia and he was supported by Mr Samrach Muy (Cambodia), Mr Jose Marco Latosa (Philippines) Mr Nopporn Choopol and Mr Pisakorn Pisankul from Thailand who were themselves students of a similar course conducted last year. 

Over 30 applications were received by PTB for this course and 19 participants were selected from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

• Training Course on Mass Standards, 30 August – 1 September 2016 (Host:  Indonesia)
  
  This course will be held in Jakarta, and an invitation brochure and nomination form were circulated, and posted on the APLMF website.  Nominations for this course closed on 31 May 2016.
   
• Verification of Non-automatic Weighing Instruments (NAWI): Supermarket Scales, 28 November – 2 December 2016 (Host: Malaysia)
  
  This course will be held in Kuala Lumpur.  The invitation brochure and nomination form will be circulated in August and will be available on the APLMF website.

APLMF - Instrument Bank Success – thanks to NMIA and MEDEA

NMIA Australia donated surplus equipment from one of their legal metrology standards laboratories.  Some 40 items including conical measures, mass standard sets, hydrometers and measuring cylinders were made available.

Within the framework of the MEDEA (Metrology Enabling Developing Economies in Asia) project an instrument bank has been developed that supports the allocation and transfer of equipment to economies that could benefit from its use, providing financial assistance to transport the items.

A good response was received and packages of equipment are being sent to Cambodia (NMC), Mongolia (MASM), Myanmar (DRI), Pakistan (PSQCA) and Papua New Guinea (NISIT).  APLMF, NMIA and MEDEA are delighted that collectively we have been able to facilitate the transfer of these items which will significantly enhance these economies in their endeavours to improve their legal metrology activities. 

If in future your economy has excess equipment that is no longer required, please contact the APLMF Secretariat and we will consult with the MEDEA Co-ordination Committee to see if it is suitable for inclusion in the Instrument Bank.

APLMF Survey on Test Procedures

Five surveys were developed on test procedures covered in MEDEA training delivered in 2015 and were sent to full member economies in early June, with a follow up in July.

Thanks to all those members who completed the surveys. Ideally, we would like closer to a 100% response rate to provide us with an accurate picture of the issues for our member economies, so we can plan to provide effective training resources in the future.

We would greatly appreciate your support in completing the surveys in the next few weeks.   The Secretariat will collate your responses to provide to the MEDEA project, managed by Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ). PTB will use the information to further the MEDEA project aims: 

• promote metrology systems within developing economies; and
   
• strengthen the metrology systems/infrastructure of their respective members from developing economies

Survey on Medical Device Adverse Event Reports

On behalf of the Working Group on Medical Measurements Chair, Ms Suh-chyin Chuang, the Secretariat sent out the survey on 13 July 2016.  The survey is collecting information about medical device adverse event reports in your economy.  If you have not already done so, can you please complete and return the survey to metrology@bsmi.gov.tw by 20th August.  We encourage you to submit your completed survey as it will greatly assist in developing the future work programme of this APLMF Working Group.

Raising Awareness of Metrology

The work to develop a joint APMP and APLMF web-portal to support the development, sharing and use of information resources to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of metrology systems has begun. We have contracted a company who are framing up the design for the portal, which we will test with participants at this year’s meeting in Tokyo.

As noted in the last newsletter, we are asking members to contribute information/resources you have developed which could be shared on this portal.  This could include pamphlets you have developed to inform industry about weights and measures programmes, or information for consumers on measurement, or work that you have undertaken to estimate the economic value of your metrology programmes. 

It is expected that the portal will go live early in 2017, but we would like to start developing the content, as this will assist in ensuring we have the right design.   The new Guide on National Metrological Infrastructure for Developing Economies (jointly being developed by APLMF/APMP/PBT) will form a key component for the portal, but we are looking to provide a wide variety and mix of information.  Please forward to the Secretariat any information/material or resources which could be added to the portal. 

Our work on building awareness of metrology also aims to pull together and document case studies of metrology ‘best practice’ and we would be interested in hearing from any members that have undertaken work to promote better understanding of metrology  (for example, a programme of increased inspection in a region, or a joint industry-government publicity campaign in an industry sector).

APEC Specialist Regional Bodies (SRBs)

Meeting Sydney 22 July

The representatives from the five APEC Specialist Regional Bodies (APMP, APLMF, APLAC, PAC and PASC) came together last month to develop a strategic direction for the SRB Forum and to discuss the principles and procedures for how the SRB Forum will work.

The SRB Forum was established in 2007 to bring together the five SRBs in order to work with the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance and other related bodies that  help reduce the negative effects that differing standards and conformance arrangements have on trade and investment in the APEC region and promote alignment of member economies with international standards.  The SRB Forum provides specialist and technical input to the Sub-committee and APEC’s projects on standards and conformance. 

All SRBs are committed to improving the way in which we work with one another in the SRB Forum so that we can better support the APEC goals in relation to standards and conformance.  A key aspect for discussion was the role and responsibilities of the SRB Convenor (who liaises and coordinates the SRBs), the SRB Shepherd (who provides the linkage between the SRB Convenor and APEC fora) and the SRB members (who provide the specialist support and link into APEC projects).

Good progress was made at the meeting, hosted by the current SRB Shepherd, Nicole Henry, Manager Trade Facilitation, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Australia. A better functioning SRB Forum will enhance how APLMF works with other SRBs as well as improving our interaction with APEC, and we hope that the procedures will be in place in the next few months.

Improving APLMF’s Infrastructure - Website, Google, Member directories

‘Members Only’ section update

The Members Only section of the APLMF website is still under construction, but we will shortly be adding content on which we are seeking feedback from members:

• New guidelines and procedures for the Working Groups
• APLMF’s Strategic Plan 2016-2021
• Guide on National Metrological Infrastructure For Developing Economies (jointly developed by APLMF/APMP/PBT)
• Draft minutes from the 22nd APLMF meeting last year in Hawaii.

These draft reports and documents will be discussed and finalised at our upcoming annual meeting in Tokyo, Please advise us of any corrections or changes you think should be made so that we can provide a revised version for consideration at the Tokyo meeting.  

As soon as we have the Members Only section operational (in the not too distant future) we will send you logon details. 

Google Drive was used for the first time for at the recent Verification of Fuel Dispensers training course.  A folder was set up for the course.  Trainers were given access to upload training material and asked to do this two weeks prior to the course.  PTB sent out their instructions to participants with a link to the training materials.  This provided them with an opportunity to read material pre-course.  Feedback indicates that most participants took advantage of this and found it beneficial. 

At the 22nd APLMF meeting (Hawaii, October 2015), it was agreed the member directories are a very useful source of information.  These can be found on the APLMF Website under the ‘About APLMF’ tab.  Most economy directories were last updated in 2003 or 2006.   The Secretariat wrote to all full members in early February 2016 requesting any updates to their directory and a number of you have provided updated directories which are available on the website.  If you haven’t provided your updated directory yet, we would encourage you to do so at your earliest convenience.

Please contact us if you have any questions about your directory.

2016 Member Fees

A reminder that 2016 membership fees are due by 30th September.  The Secretariat will be sending out a reminder to those economies who have not yet paid in early August.

Other key events

2016 FLOMEKO Conference, September 2016, Australia

The 17th International Flow Measurement Conference will be held in Sydney, 26-29 September 2016.  The conference is being hosted by the Metrology Society of Australasia and will bring together experts in flow and volume measurements from industry, metrology laboratories and national measurement institutes from all over the world.  Registrations are open.

If a letter of invitation is required for this event, please contact Khaled Chahine.

OIML Pilot Training Centre

In addition to the MEDEA training courses, the PR China have worked with the International Organisation of Legal Metrology (OIML) to develop an OIML Pilot Training Centre and organised two events in 2016 aimed at strengthening legal metrology capability:

• Non-automated Weighing Instruments (NAWI), 18-22 July 2016 (Host:  PR China)This five-day training course was held in Beijing. 
  
  
• OIML Seminar on Legal Metrology Management System, 9-11 August 2016 (Host:  PR China) This three-day workshop was held in Guangzhou. 
  
  

Applications and the details for both of these events were available on the APLMF website.  In a future APLMF Newsletter we will report on these events for the benefit of those of you that were unable to attend. 

Best regards,

Stephen O’Brien
President, APLMF