For all matters requiring the attention of the French authorities, the committees shall have recourse to the ministry of foreign affairs of France.
Art. 17
The director of the bureau and the adjuncts shall be chosen by the international committee by secret ballot.
The employés shall be appointed by the director.
The director shall have a right to take part in the deliberations of the committee.
Art. 18
The director of the bureau shall have access to the place of deposit of the international prototypes of the meter and the kilogram only in pursuance of a resolution of the committee and in the presence of two of its members.
The place of deposit of the prototypes shall be opened only by means of three keys, one of which shall be in possession of the director of the archives of France, the second in that of the chairman of the committee, and the third in that of the director of the bureau.
The standards of the class of national prototypes alone shall be used for the ordinary comparing work of the bureau.
Art. 19
The director of the bureau shall annually furnish to the committee: 1st. A financial report concerning the accounts of the preceding year, which shall be examined, and, if found correct, a certificate to that effect shall be given him; 2d. A report on the condition of the apparatus; 3d. A general report concerning the work accomplished during the course of the year just closed.
The international committee shall make to each of the governments of the high contracting parties an annual report concerning all its scientific, technical, and administrative operations, and concerning those of the bureau. The chairman of the committee shall make a report to the general conference concerning the work that has been accomplished since its last session.
The reports and publications of the committee shall be in the French language. They shall be printed and furnished to the governments of the high contracting parties.
Art. 20
The contributions referred to in article 9 of the convention shall be paid according to the following scale:
- The number representing the population, expressed in millions, shall be multiplied by the coefficient three for states in which the use of the metrical system is obligatory;
- by the coefficient two for those in which it is optional;
- by the coefficient one for other states.
