SIM Council Meeting
May 05th , 2004
CENAM
Querétaro - Mexico

DRAFT MINUTES

ATTENDANCE LIST

COUNCIL MEMBERS

Oscar Harasic Executive Secretary, OAS, representing SIM President
Yoshito Mitani, Chairman, SIM PDC, CENAM
Steve Carpenter Technical Advisor, NIST
Luis Mussio Technical Committee Chair / JCRB Representative
Luis Carlos Gomes On behalf of Past President, INMETRO
On behalf of SURAMET Coordinator
Haygas Kalustian On behalf of ANDIMET Coordinator,
Miguel Tevez On behalf of CAMET Coordinator
Hermon Edmondson CARIMET Coordinator
Jim Pekelsky On behalf of NORAMET Coordinator
Anna Camboim SIM Recording Secretary, INMETRO
Malcolm Smith NCSL International

OBSERVERS

Jose Ricardo Silva INMETRO, Brasil
César Luis Silva INMETRO, Brasil
Hamilce Observatório Nacional, Brasil
William Anderson NIST, USA, QSTF Chairman
Sally Bruce NIST, EUA

AGENDA

1. Introduction and Welcome / Introducción y Bienvenida
2. Verification of Quorum / Verificación de Quórum
3. Approval of Agenda / Aprobación de Agenda
4. Approval of the Minutes from previous Council Meeting /
Aprobación de la Acta de la Reunión Anterior del Consejo
5. Matters arising from the Minutes / Asuntos derivados de la Acta
6. Report on execution of Project 2003 / Infome de ejecución del proyecto 2003
7. Definition of SIM Activities with the 2004 OAS Project, including GA/ Definición de las actividades del SIM con el Proyecto de la OEA 2004, incluyendo AG
8. SIM participation at NCSLI / Participación de SIM en el NCSLI
9. Report from SIM Representative to JCRB / Informe del Representante del SIM en el JCRB
10. Report from QSTF activities / Reporte del QSTF
11. OAS project preparation for 2005-2008 / Preparación del Proyecto de OAS para 2005-2008
12. SIM-MRA / ARM en SIM
13. On the SIM Presidential Election / Sobre la Elección de Presidente del SIM
14. Financial Reports / Reportes Financieros
15. Report from the General Assembly Working Group / Reporte del Grupo de Trabajo de la Asamblea General
16. Other Business / Otros Asuntos

Meeting:

1. Introduction and Welcome / Introdución y Bienvenida

Oscar Harasic welcomed Council Members, on behalf of SIM President, whose absence was justified due to appointments previously settled.

2. Verification of Quorum / Verificación de Quórum

The quorum was verified, 10 out of 14 members of Council being present.

3. Approval of Agenda / Aprobación de la Agenda

The agenda was approved, with no amendments.

4. Approval of the minutes from previous Council Meeting

Comments to the minutes:
- On item .., it was proposed by Steve Carpenter where it is read…. , it should be read "elections only".

The minutes of previous Council Meeting, held in Costa Rica in February, were approved with this amendment.

5. Matters arising from the minutes

Luis Mussio mentioned that there are still some pending issues within TC and JCRB activities, like:
1) Paper describing SIM activities on BIPM;
2) Directory updating and formatting: it was suggested to replace it for Jim Pekeslky list;
3) Scholarship procedures - Harasic should present a proposal by the end of this month;

6. Report on execution of Project 2003
Steve Carpenter made a brief presentation about Project 2003 - a report was sent to members in advance.
There were no difficulties in Project 2003 execution. The project was supported by OAS, who requested an auditing after its conclusion. A private consultant was hired. After having gathered information, the report was presented to OAS. The final conclusion was that the project was considered successful and it will be used as a model to similar activities. Some of the activities considered did not reflect SIM activities as a whole. It indicates that it shall be part of the drafts for the next meeting in November. It will be verified how much OAS shall contribute for the best use of SIM members resources.

7. Definition of SIM Activities with the 2004 OAS Project, including GA
Further analysis about the General Assembly shall be discussed in item 15.
YoshitoMitani explained that some alterations in the calendar of subregional seminars have been made for ANDIMET, CARIMET and SURAMET. In Bolivia there will be two courses - one about thermometry and esfignomanometers. Haygas Kalustián supplied some information about the original seminars' agenda and suggested the participation of Felipe Urresta, César Luis, Yoshito Mitani and Steve Carpenter.
Steve Carpenter informed that he will not be able to attend the seminar but he offered his presentation, in case it is necessary. Haygas mentioned that subregional planning meeting will not be necessary in June, 2004 for ANDIMET.
Yoshito Mitani then mentioned that he has not yet received the confirmation from Bolivia's representative on the date and the program, but based on the discussion he will recommend to Bolivía to organize onlt legal metrology courses with the participation of PTB experts. César Luis informed that the name of Inmetro's representative has not been defined yet. Hermon Edmondson informed the same situation for CARIMET subregional meeting programmed for June.
Luis Mussio then informed that SIM will fund the participation in events, including EUROMET.
It was discussed the SIM participation in many events throughout the year, like APMP, OIML. Steve Carpenter shall request Willie May to represent SIM at APMP meeting and Cesar Luis will be SIM representative at OIML meeting.

8. SIM participation at NCSLI
Oscar Harasic invited Malcolm to make a presentation about SIM participation at NCSLI. He then explained about the change of NCSL's name, which is now NCSLI because every year the number of international participants in the organisation has been increasing. He also mentioned that due to a limited number of its staff, sometimes they face some organisational problems. He also mentioned that in the last seminar there were around 115 participants, most of which were US and Canada representatives. SIM could, then, act for the inclusion of other members in NCSLI. Malcolm informed about the Board representatives and named the organisations. He also emphasised the importance of NMIs for the organisation, as they are responsible for the measurement chain and traceability.
He then informed that NCSLI is being organised in all regions throughout the world and he offered himself to supply more information of the role of NCSLI in other regions for those who are interested.
Malcon also informed that NCSLI work with laboratories in different areas, like chemical metrology, for example. In his point of view, this is a very important task that is being taken by NCSLI and such actions have been managed quite successfully.
He then described some other NCSLI activities. The first one is the Conference itself and a trade show, connected to the conference. There has also been some tutorial programmes, that are supplied by volunteers. They have been implemented in South and Central America, as well as in Japan.
There is also the publication of a newsletter, four times a year, concerning information about events, papers, regional reports, etc. Luis Mussio then added that there is an initiative to provide the translation of some documents to Spanish.
Malcon also informed that he will be taking part at SIM General Assembly in Venezuela and that NCSLI participation will be deepened. He also thanked Oscar Harasic for the opportunity.

9. Report from SIM Representative to JCRB
Luis Mussio made a brief report, summarising his participation at JCRB.

10. Report from QSTF activities
Anderson made a presentation about the approval of quality systems of NMIs. CENAM, NIST and Inmetro have had their quality systems approved, after some discussions.
CMCs must have their quality systems documented by December, 31st and presented at JCRB next year.
Yoshito mentioned that, during PDC-TC meetings, some countries informed about the progress they made and that some further activities need to be implemented to help them to continue progressing.
Hermon Edmondson said that Jamaica has not signed the MRA yet but they shall be able to do it next year.
César Luis mentioned that OIML MRA has a model document for their approval and its appendix deals with a checklist for quality systems that could be very helpful for helping other countries to implement their quality systems.

11. OAS project preparation for 2005-2008
Oscar Harasic requested Steve Carpenter to present the document concerning the Project with its description and objectives. Steve informed that the report will be included in the minutes, emphasising that the project referred to the implementation of what had already been proposed. By the end of May, the final version of the project will be presented to OAS.
He mentioned that the new proposal is quite different than the original one, as it dealt with the implementation of a measurement infrastructure in Americas and now the new project deals with the improvement of existing infrastructures.
He also explained the conditions for funding. He mentioned that some urgent conditions (like hurricanes, disasters, etc.) make OAS prioritise the countries affected. He then emphasised the necessity of support letters to the project. He requested all representatives to report to their institutions about this necessity. Oscar Harasic will send a model letter for all NMIs and the names to whom the letters shall be transmitted.
Steve Carpenter also emphasised that within the project for 2005, SIMnet shall deserve a special attention and the magazine INFOSIM will have a programme for its outreach publicity and promotion.
Luis Mussio then raised the point that there have been many critics concerning the quantity of resources spent for the participation in meetings.
Steve then explained that there is a specific percentage for travel expenses, for equipments, training and others. They try to keep the consistence of such percentages but if any of them exceeeds another one, resources can be transferred from one category to another.
All of these are basic anticipated information about the budget. But only by the end of the year we will have the full information about it.
Jim raised the question of the maintenance of the budget or if there is any chance that there is a change in the budget. He also raised the question of the possibility that OAS funds may finish and possible consequences to SIM. Steve then explained that SIM has been created by NMIs and thus, the organization will be maintained independently of OAS.
Oscar Harasic then remarked that SIM Project has an excellent image inside OAS, as everybody agrees that metrology is a very important issue.

12. SIM MRA
Luis Mussio remarked that during JCRB meeting there was a discussion about the MRA importance.
Nava Jaimes reinforced the MRA importance as it could contribute for the implementation and capacitation of laboratories. As not every SIM member is a BIPM member, the MRA is essential for minimizing some disadvantages among countries. Dianne Lalla Rodriguez supported the remark.

13. On the SIM Presidential Election
Oscar Harasic reminded Council members that the presidency period is expiring and that we should initiate the search for candidates.
Luis Mussio informed that, in accordance to SIM statute, the letter calling for the election will be sent within three months of advance - in July.

14. Financial Reports
Steve Carpenter explained that only six months before the end of the fiscal year it will be possible to present financial reports. The subject will be discussed againg later then.

15. Report from the General Assembly Working Group

The agenda for the General Assembly is under preparation and the proposed date is October 31st to November 06th.
In parallel to the General Assembly, there will be a QSTF meeting. There will also be meeting of chemical metrology and SIM sub-regions. Haygas Kalustián presented some themes that shall be discussed during the events, like chemical metrology in food safety. Institutios should send specialists in the subjects to follow the discussions. He also requested Council members to make some more suggestions and comments on the themes to be covered by the discussions, but this should be done as soon as possible since the organization will have to make the necessary arrangements.
The Council discussed the various dates and activities for the SIM week and some proposals were made. After the agenda is concluded it will be send to all SIM Members.

16. Other Business / Otros Asuntos
Steve Carpenter informed that Luis Mussio was confirmed as JCRB representative and remarked that Hratch Semerjian was his alternate but, as he had to leave SIM activities, William Anderson was indicated in his place.
Luis Mussio then proposed to change the Mass Working Group Chair to Dr. Claude Jacques of NRC. Jim indicated that this scientist of NRC is involved in the mass programme of the institute. Much information was given about the scientist and then he was accepted as the new Mass Working Group Chair.
Luis Mussio then presented the changes made to the QSTF document and informed that all changes were approved.
Hermon Edmondson then requested the Council to send a letter to CROSSQ to help CARIMET members to be able to participate in the meetings of the organization, as they have no conditions of attending their meetings.
Oscar Harasic requested some more information about the organization. After giving some details about CROSSQ, Hermon Edmondson informed that CARIMET is trying to be accepted as CROSSQ member.
Dianne Lalla Rodriguez mentioned that CROSSQ has never recognized CARIMET and for that SIM President would have to recognize CARIMET as a regional organization for metrology. Haygas Kalustián then suggested that this matter should be discussed during the General Assembly. Dianne Lalla Rodrigues mentioned that the subject had already been formally discussed in Chile, but Luis Mussio then remarked that there was no referrence to the subject in the minutes and the matter shall be discussed during next General Assembly.
Oscar Harasic thanked Hector Nava Jaimes for Mexico's hospitality and Luis Mussio made a special appreciation to Yoshito Mitani, for the whole organization. Hector Nava Jaimes thanked everybody for their presence.

Having no more subjects to be discussed, the meeting was closed.