The Director of Corporate Communications of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Dr Kofi Amponsah-Bediako, has stated that, metrology as a science of measurement is very important in all business transactions.

He said, “apart from making certain products meet standards and regulations, measurement fulfils customer quality expectations.”

Dr Amponsah-Bediako was speaking in an interview in Accra on the relevance of measurement as Ghana joins the rest of the world to celebrate 2020 World Metrology Day, which falls today.

The World Metrology Day is an annual event during which more than 80 countries celebrate the impact of measurement on our daily lives.

The theme for the day is: “Measurements for global trade.”

This theme was chosen to create awareness of the important role measurement plays in facilitating fair global trade, ensuring products meet standards and regulations, and satisfying customer quality expectations.

Indeed more widely metrology, the science of measurement, plays a central role in scientific discovery and innovation, industrial manufacturing and international trade, in improving the quality of life and in protecting the global environment.

In the area of health, for example, Dr Amponsah-Bediako said, “we need accurate measurements to ensure that the various components of medicines are done in the right way to make certain the health of the people is protected.”

He added that, different products from various parts of the world were also measured accurately to satisfy the needs of people in other parts of the world.

Similarly, he pointed out that, “crude oil is measured accurately by producing countries before being exported to importing countries, so as to ensure fair trade.”

Across the world, national metrology institutes continually advance measurement science by developing and validating new measurement techniques at the necessary level of sophistication.

The national metrology institutes participate in measurement comparisons coordinated by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) to ensure the reliability of measurement results worldwide.

The International Organisation of Legal Metrology (OIML) develops international recommendations, which aim to align and harmonise requirements worldwide in many fields.

The OIML also operates the OIML Certification System (OIML-CS) which facilitates international acceptance and global trade of regulated measuring instruments.

These international metrology systems provide the necessary assurance and confidence that measurements are accurate, providing a sound basis for global trade today and helping us to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.

BY TIMES REPORTER