UAE gains global recognition of national standards for measurement

ABU DHABI, 9th February, 2020 (WAM) -- The UAE will be fully recognised by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France next September, making it the first country at the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC, level to unify its measurement systems with international standards, Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, ESMA, has announced.

This is in line with the outcome of the meeting of the heads and secretaries of the Gulf Metrology Committees, which was hosted by Abu Dhabi last week.

Abdullah Al-Maeeni, Director-General of the ESMA, said that the authority will publish its national measurement capabilities in the database of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France, in cooperation with the Emirates Metrology Institute, as the first country in the GCC and the Middle East and North Africa, next September.

The UAE has succeeded in unifying its measurement systems thanks to the pioneering legislative structure it possesses, and a national will to achieve this transformation.

Al-Maeeni noted that the state obtaining this recognition globally would have a positive impact on the economic, production and tourism sectors, and save cost, effort and time, facilitate the exchange of trade, while supporting the national economy, in line with the objectives of the National Agenda 2021 and the UAE Centennial 2071, as part of the efforts of the UAE to lead globally in various fields.

The comprehensive application of international measurement units supports the economic and productive sectors and stimulates tourism activity by keeping pace with state markets with measurement units known to tourists from across the world.

This in turn facilitates the movement of tourists in the country with no need to convert units of products or transactions into other units, something that major countries have been trying to amend for decades, and have not yet accomplished.