Lithuania

The Republic of Lithuania lies in the center of Europe: the geometrical center of the continent is in eastern Lithuania, near the village of Bernotai, 26 km north of Vilnius. Lithuania is on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea (the length of the Lithuanian coastline is 99 km). Lithuania's population is 3.358 million (2008), of which 67% is urban, with an average density of 52 people per sq km. Under Constitution, sovereign state power is vested in the people of Lithuania and is exercised by the President of the Republic, Seimas (Parliament), Government and Courts. Lithuania is divided into 10 districts, which are further subdivided into 60 municipal councils.

Organisation structure and background

The legal base for metrology in Lithuania is the Law on Metrology, adopted on 9 July 1996 (revised in 2006). State Metrology Service (VMT) establishes and executes metrology policy in Lithuania, co-ordinates traceability of measurements, organises and implements scientific, legal and administrative activities related to metrology. VMT is a public administration authority under the Ministry of Environment.

It also acts as a National Metrology Institute with its headquarters in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and laboratories in Vilnius and Kaunas. VMT was founded on the 1 January 1998 as a result of splitting the former Lithuanian Standards Board into three independent public institutions. The Lithuanian Metrology Inspection with its ten offices in the districts is a Market surveillance authority. Verification of various measuring instruments is performed by 5 state companies - Metrology Centres located in Kaunas, Klaipeda, Panevežys, Šiauliai and Vilnius and by a number of authorized private or public or semi-public non-profit laboratories.

VMT defines the general rules of legal metrology, prepares and adopts regulations, surveys designated and notified bodies, participates in European or international meetings (European Commission, WELMEC, OIML, EURAMET, COOMET).

Accreditation of calibration and/or testing laboratories or inspection bodies is by NAB (National accreditation body).

Equipment Subject to National Controls

(List updated in 2006 following the Law of 22 June 2006) if used for purposes listed in article 15 of the Law and in respective lists of groups approved by VMT (as of 2006):

• Dimensional measuring instruments, including area, and sieves, excluding GPS based
• Mass measuring instruments (weighing instruments, weights, capacity measures for grain)
• Force measuring instruments (dynamometers)
• Pressure measuring instruments (barometers, manometers, differential meters, other pressure meters)
• Movement meters (taximeters, tachographs, air speed meters, vehicle speed meters, car break meters)
• Gas and liquids meters (flow meters and systems, heat meters, gas meters, gas volume conversion devices, water meters, petrol pumps, other instruments for quantity of liquids, road tankers, material measures, level measuring instruments, liquid gas phase meters, bottle counters, orifice plate meters)
• Physical and chemical measuring instruments (capacity measures, hygrometers, viscosity meters, smoke analysers, alcohol in human body measuring instruments, milk properties measuring instruments, exhaust analysers, oxygen in water measuring instruments, measuring instruments for explosive gas quantity, car windscreen, side and rear window transparency meters)
• Temperature measuring instruments (glass, electrical and electronic, pressure thermometers)
• Optical and optical physical measuring instruments (for illumination, flame photometers, colorimeters, fuel calorimeters, polarimeters and spectrophotometers)
• Acoustic and vibration (sound meters, vibration meters)
• Electrical energy meters, measuring transformers, insulation meters, electrical field strength meters)
• Time and frequency (high frequency, stopwatches, time watches in combination with electricity meters and parking meters, chronometers for sea navigation, telephone call quantity and duration measuring systems)
• Radiotechnical measuring instruments ( electromagnetic field power measuring instruments, high frequency power and density measuring instruments)
• Ionising radiation (doseratemeters, X-ray meters, radiometers)
• Medical measuring instruments (audiometers, body temperature meters, non invasive sphygmomanometers, eye tonometers, veloergometers, medical weighing instruments).

Instruments are generally subject to type approval, initial verification and mandatory re-verification unless otherwise specified.

Type Examination

VMT is responsible for the national type approval. LEI (Lithuanian energy institute) is a notified body for module B of gas meters and water meters under MID.

Initial Verification

National initial verification is performed by designated independent bodies (see list on www.lvmt.lt).

Concerning NAWI directive 1 metrology centre is notified for EC initial verification.

Concerning MID LEI is notified for module F for gas meters and water meters.

Other candidates may be notified in the near future (please refer to NANDO data base

Designated bodies charges are not regulated by the law.

Control of instruments in service

Control of instruments in service is generally based on a mandatory periodical verification performed approved external bodies evidencing compliance with EN 17025 or EN 17020 and specific metrological requirements. They are supervised by VMT at least once in four years. The list of verification bodies per category is available on the website www.lvmt.lt.

For example, some inspection intervals are:

Error allowances are mpe (maximum permissible error) x 2 for weighing instruments, mpe x 1 for most of other measuring instruments.

Market surveillance

Market surveillance is performed by Lithuanian metrology inspectorate.(www.metrinsp.lt)

Surveillance of instruments in service

Spot checks are performed by Lithuanian metrology inspectorate. Results are published on LMI’s website.

Legal Metrology Practioners and Scope

Training of legal metrology officers is provided by the Kaunas Technology University Metrology Institute according to the programme approved by VMT and other stakeholders.

Sanctions

System of administrative fines is available. Criminal offences may be invoked too. Inspectors may issue written warnings. Fines are set by general legislation, not by specific legal metrology laws.

Directive 90/384/EEC

The Directive was implemented by Order of the Head of VMT No 225 dated 20 December 1999.

No administrative gravity values as referred in Annex II point 5.2 have been identified in the regulation, but recommended values are stated in other documents.

Directive 2004/22 (MID)

he directive was implemented by an Order of Director of VMT No V-31 dated 30 March 2006.

The directive is transposed for all categories of measuring instruments.

VMT is in charge of implementation of MID in general and the designation of notified bodies.

Updated October 2008