The National Assembly has two bills pending a first debate, introduced on April 23, 2026 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that would — if approved — make Panama a State Party to the two foundational treaties of the global metrology system: the Metre Convention of 1875 and the Convention establishing the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) of 1955. Both initiatives, assigned to the Committee on Foreign Relations, were filed on the same day and share parallel explanatory memoranda, reflecting a coordinated strategy to integrate Panama into the technical architecture of international trade.

Bill 620 approves the Metre Convention, signed in Paris on May 20, 1875 and amended on October 6, 1921, together with its annexed Regulations. That treaty created the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM, by its French acronym), headquartered in Paris, which is responsible for preserving the international prototypes of the metre and kilogram, conducting periodic comparisons of national standards against those prototypes, calibrating precision instruments, and coordinating the International System of Units (SI). Accession entails annual financial contributions calculated according to a scale based on the contracting state's population, and grants the country the right to participate in the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) and in the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM). The explanatory memorandum states that the measure seeks to strengthen the role of Panama's National Metrology Center (CENAMEP AIP) as the national metrology institution.

Bill 621 approves the Convention establishing the OIML, signed in Paris on October 12, 1955 and amended in 1968. The OIML is the international body dedicated specifically to legal metrology — that is, to the regulation of measuring instruments used in commercial transactions, health control, consumer protection, and industrial supervision. Its functions include drafting recommendations and requirements applicable to measuring instruments, developing model laws and regulations, and coordinating activities with the BIPM and national metrology bodies. The International Conference on Legal Metrology — the organization's supreme body — meets at least every six years; its decisions require the presence of at least two-thirds of the members and four-fifths of the votes cast.

A central element of the motivation behind Bill 621 is that Panama currently holds the status of Corresponding Member in the OIML, a category that limits its participation to observer status with advisory voice and excludes the country from voting processes and from the Technical Committees where international normative documents are drafted. Ratification of the Convention would elevate the country to Full Member status, with representation of up to three official delegates at the Conference — one of them with voting rights — and direct access to technical work. The explanatory memorandum identifies as direct beneficiaries national regulatory institutions such as the National Authority of Public Services (ASEP), the Ministry of Health (MINSA), the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA), and the Consumer Protection and Competition Defense Authority (ACODECO), among others. CENAMEP AIP would assume the costs of full membership.

Both bills are pending a first debate before the Committee on Foreign Relations and must pass through two additional plenary debates to become law. The explanatory memorandum of each underscores that formal accession to these instruments would aim to consolidate the national quality infrastructure, improve the traceability and comparability of measurements, and facilitate international trade in goods and services by aligning with globally recognized technical standards.