This treaty established the following three bodies:
Conférence générale des poids et mesures (CGPM, General Conference on Weights and Measures), an intergovernmental conference made up of delegates of the governments of the Member States and observers from the Associates of the CGPM; it is the supreme authority for all actions;
Comité international des poids et mesures (CIPM, International Committee for Weights and Measures), consisting of selected scientists and metrologists, which prepares and executes the decisions of the CGPM and is responsible for the supervision of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; and
Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM, International Bureau of Weights and Measures), a permanent laboratory and world center of scientific metrology, the activities of which include the establishment of the basic standards and scales of the principal physical quantities and maintenance of the international prototype standards.