Finnish national standards laboratories: Annual report 2000

The aim in maintaining and developing the National Measurement System is to support the competitiveness of the Finnish industry and the economy, to fulfil the needs of consumers and the society, and to integrate the Finnish metrological infrastructure with the European and international infrastructures.
Organisation of the National Measurement Standards System was launched by a Government Decree in 1978, considering especially the growing needs of industrial metrology. National standards were established for most of the basic units and some derived units by the Council of State which appointed a number of public research institutions as National Measurement Centres.
In 1994, according to a new Law on Units of Measurement and the National Measurement Standards, the Ministry of Trade and Industry was authorised to decide for which basic and derived SI units National Measurement Standards are realised and maintained. The authority to designate the National Standards Laboratories was delegated to the Centre for Metrology and Accreditation (MIKES).