INTERNATIONAL EARTH ROTATION AND REFERENCE SYSTEMS SERVICE (IERS) SERVICE INTERNATIONAL DE LA ROTATION TERRESTRE ET DES SYSTEMES DE REFERENCE SERVICE DE LA ROTATION TERRESTRE OBSERVATOIRE DE PARIS 61, Av. de l'Observatoire 75014 PARIS (France) Tel. : 33 (0) 1 40 51 22 26 FAX : 33 (0) 1 40 51 22 91 Internet : services.iers@obspm.fr Paris, 15 January 2004 Bulletin C 27 To authorities responsible for the measurement and distribution of time INFORMATION ON UTC - TAI NO positive leap second will be introduced at the end of June 2004. The difference between UTC and the International Atomic Time TAI is : from 1999 January 1, 0h UTC, until further notice : UTC-TAI = -32 s Leap seconds can be introduced in UTC at the end of the months of December or June, depending on the evolution of UT1-TAI. Bulletin C is mailed every six months, either to announce a time step in UTC, or to confirm that there will be no time step at the next possible date. Daniel GAMBIS Director Earth Orientation Center of IERS Observatoire de Paris, France