Verification and declaration of National Reference Standards

(1) Every standard of any unit of measurement procured under section 6 of this Act, shall be calibrated and certified at a specified standards laboratory before such standard is brought into use in Belize. (2) The Minister may, by Order published in the Gazette, declare that a standard of any unit of measurement which has been procured and verified under this section shall be brought into use in Belize and such standard shall, upon the commencement of such Order, become a National Reference Standard and shall for all purposes be deemed to be true and accurate. (3) The Minister shall, at least once after every ten years, cause such National Reference Standards as he deems necessary to be verified at a specified standards laboratory. (4) Where any National Reference Standard is sent out of Belize for purposes of Verification, the Minister shall, in its absence, cause a Secondary Standard of that unit of measurement to be verified by comparison with such National Reference Standard and authenticated in such manner as the Minister may direct, and thereafter placed in the custody of the Director, and such Secondary Standard shall, during such time as the National Reference Standard is out of Belize, be deemed to be a National Reference Standard.