AMMAN -- The Jordan Institution for Standards and Metrology (JISM) signed an agreement on Tuesday with the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) to set up the Jordan National Metrology Institute (JNMI).
JNMI, to be located at the RSS, will be tasked with preserving and sustaining standards and specifications in the Kingdom and developing them in line with international standards.
It will also offer calibration services for reference standards at the Kingdom's calibration and metrology labs.
RSS President Saed Hijazi, who signed the deal with JISM Director General Yaseen Khayyat during a ceremony yesterday under the patronage of Minister of Industry and Trade Sharif Zu'bi, said the "institute will be the backbone and the foundation stone of a quality system in the country and would have a positive impact on the scientific, legal and industrial sectors."
The institute will be tasked with carrying out research on metrology, holding workshops and training courses in this field, as well as establishing a database for accredited national standards in the country and giving technical counselling to the government and public and private institutions in the field of metrology.
Khayyat said: "The institute will empower the local industries to manufacture goods of high quality."
"Through preserving and developing the national metrology standards, inter-trade between Jordan and Arab and foreign countries will be facilitated and local industries will be able to penetrate new international markets," he added.
In the field of scientific metrology, the institute will provide calibration and metrology services for scientific research centres and the Kingdom's universities.
In terms of industrial metrology, the institute will provide calibration services for meters used in the various stages of manufacturing and for testing labs to guarantee the accuracy of meters in these fields and their harmony with national and international standards.
On legal metrology, the institute will provide calibration services for meters used by citizens in their daily lives, such as taxi meters, thermometers, electricity and water meters, blood pressure metres and fuel metres in gas stations to protect citizens rights and guarantee their safety.
"The institute will actively contribute to attracting foreign investment, while developing local investment," Khayyat said.
To monitor the performance of the institute, a steering committee comprising the Jordan Chamber of Industry, the Commerce Chambers Federation, the Royal Air Force's calibration labs and the Higher Council for Science and Technology along with JISM and the RSS, was formed, according to Khayyat.
According to Fawwaz Labadi, head of Standards and Calibration Division at the RSS, the Japanese government provided the RSS with the necessary devices to equip the JNMI as part of a project called Improving Quality of Production and Increasing Competitiveness of the Industrial Sector in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
By Mohammad Ghazal
© Jordan Times 2006
