section_path: History/Metre Convention
section_name: Metre Convention
paragraph_text: Metre Convention
  
  A French-inspired initiative for international cooperation in metrology led to the signing in 1875 of the Metre Convention, also called Treaty of the Metre, by 17 nations. The General Conference on Weights and Measures (French: Conférence générale des poids et mesures – CGPM), which was established by the Metre Convention, brought together many international organisations to establish the definitions and standards of a new system and to standardise the rules for writing and presenting measurements. Initially the convention only covered standards for the metre and the kilogram. This became the foundation of the MKS system of units.