General Conference on Weights and Measures

The General Conference on Weights and Measures (French:Conférence générale des poids et mesures - CGPM) is the senior of the three Inter-governmental organizations established in 1875 under the terms of the Metre Convention (French:Convention du Mètre) to represent the interests of member states. The treaty, which also set up two further bodies, the International Committee for Weights and Measures (French:Comité international des poids et mesures- CIPM) and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (French:Bureau international des poids et mesures - BIPM), was drawn up to coordinate international metrology and to coordinate the development of the metric system.