Title 15, Commerce and TradeRelease 119-102
§205 Metric System Defined
Title 15 › CHAPTER 6 — WEIGHTS AND MEASURES AND STANDARD TIME › SUBCHAPTER I — WEIGHTS, MEASURES, AND STANDARDS GENERALLY › § 205
Summary
The United States must use the International System (SI) established in 1960; it is kept by the General Conference and adapted for the U.S. by the Commerce Secretary.
Full Legal Text
Title 15, §205
Commerce and Trade, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The metric system of measurement shall be defined as the International System of Units as established in 1960, and subsequently maintained, by the General Conference of Weights and Measures, and as interpreted or modified for the United States by the Secretary of Commerce.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification R.S. § 3570 derived from act July 28, 1866, ch. 301, § 2, 14 Stat. 339, 340.
Amendments
2007—Pub. L. 110–69 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows: “The tables in the schedule annexed shall be recognized in the
Construction
of contracts and in all legal proceedings as establishing, in terms of the weights and measures on June 22, 1874, in use in the United States, the equivalents of the weights and measures expressed therein in terms of the metric system; and the tables may lawfully be used for computing, determining, and expressing in customary weights and measures the weights and measures of the metric system.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
15 U.S.C. § 205
Title 15, Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102