Metrology: an instrument for citizenship aims at reviewing the present stage (1) of the Brazilian legislation on metrology and its correlated areas and (2) of the Brazilian education system in metrology, both matters understood as effective instruments that addresses the development of the industrial competitiveness and the consolidation of citizenship in the country. The work is based on contemporary philosophical concepts that have once more elected Man and the quality of life as a parameter and a competitive differential in the developmental processes as a whole, whether they are of economic, social, political or industrial nature. Regarding the legislative content of the work, the corpus of the analysis proposes to encompass (i) the Federal Constitution of the Republic - the - Citizen Constitution -; (ii)the Consumer, Protection and Defense Code; (iii) the body of technical Metrology regulations, inter-correlating this specific legislation with remarkable political and economic al facts of the Brazilian History. With respect to the evolution of the Brazilian education system, critical aspects of the pioneer Brazilian experience devoted to the development of human resources in metrology and metrology-related areas are considered. The analysis also focus on (i)programs and projects for the induction and consolidation of metrology as an instrument that ensures citizenship; (ii) the course along which formal education in metrology has evolved in the context of the Brazilian educational system in view of the consolidation of the postgraduate courses in the Country and (iii) of its industrial and science and technology policies. Within this broad analysis, the major landmarks of industrial development and their impact on industrial competitiveness and on the construction of citizenship have been focused. In the conclusion, a few reflections have been put forward along with proposals to institutionalize the powers and responsibilities that are currently in force, to congregate correlated spaces, and to plan medium and long-term goals for the purpose of ensuring a continuous process for the development of metrology as an agent of this ongoing process of global change.