WMO Standards and Technical Regulations (TR) D. Ivanov (Member of Secretariat TR Editorial Board; DRA-C/ROE) Reduced version (I. Zahumensky; WIGOS-PO) WMO; DRA; OBS

WMO Technical Regulations - standards The Technical Regulations comprise standard practices and procedures and recommended practices and procedures. The standard practices and procedures (standards): (a) Shall be the practices and procedures which it is necessary that Members follow or implement; and therefore (b) Shall have the status of requirements in a technical resolution in respect of which Article 9 (b) of the Convention is applicable; and (c) Shall invariably be distinguished by the use of the term shall in the English text, and by suitable equivalent terms in the Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish texts.

WMO Technical Regulations - recommendations The Technical Regulations comprise standard practices and procedures and recommended practices and procedures. The recommended practices and procedures (recommendations): (a) Shall be the practices and procedures which it is desirable that Members follow or implement; and therefore (b) Shall have the status of recommendations to Members, to which Article 9 (b) of the Convention shall not be applied; (c) Shall be distinguished by the use of the term should in the English text (except where otherwise provided by decision of Congress) and by suitable equivalent terms in the Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish texts. Note: the term desirable needs clarification

WMO Technical Regulations – Composition test footer 4 Standard Standard practices and procedures Recommended Recommended practices and procedures necessary for Members to follow or implement desirable for Members to follow or implement distinguished by the use of the term shall distinguished by the use of the term should status of requirements status of recommendations defined in a technical resolution (?) - Members shall do their utmost to implement Members urged to comply with Article 9(b) of the Convention is applicable Article 9(b) of the Convention is not applicable Members shall inform SG of inability or impracticability of implementation No requirement GR 128 is applicable GR 128 is not applicable  Types of regulations - Standards & Recommendations defined by Congress (Res 17 (Cg-II)), currently included in the General Provisions of TRs and Introduction part of Manuals

How to formulate a standard:  System requirements – examples:  Definition of a system, including its scope, objectives and composition: [A.2.1.] 1.1: The Global Data-processing System shall include World Meteorological Centres, Regional Meteorological Centres and National Meteorological Centres.  Designation of national facilities/networks Manual on GOS: 2.8.3: Each Member shall establish and maintain at least one reference climatological station.  Designation of regional facilities/networks Manual on GOS: : Regional networks shall be established in relation to the regional requirements.  Technical requirements - examples Manual on GOS: : The intermediate standard times for surface synoptic observations shall be 0300, 0900, 1500 and 2100 UTC. Manual on MMSs: : Weather and sea bulletins for the high seas shall include, in the order given hereafter: Part I: Warnings; Part II: … WMO Technical Regulations – how to formulate

WMO Technical Regulations - Implementation  Required actions by Members  Convention  Article 9, Execution of Congress decisions a)All Members shall do their utmost to implement the decisions of Congress; b)If, however, any Member finds it impracticable to give effect to some requirement in a technical resolution adopted by Congress, such Member shall inform the Secretary-General of the Organization whether its inability to give effect to it is provisional or final, and state its reasons therefor.

WMO Technical Regulations - Implementation  Required actions by Members  General Regulations  GR 128 [1] [notification of non-compliance (deviation)] A Member which is unable to give effect to a requirement in a technical resolution which has been adopted by Congress, or by the Executive Council on behalf of Congress, and to which the provisions of Article 9 (b) of the Convention and of these Regulations have been specifically stated to apply, shall so inform the Secretary- General in writing within a period of 90 days after the notification of the decision by the latter. The Member concerned must indicate, in its communication to the Secretary-General, whether its inability to give effect to the resolution is provisional or final and state its reasons therefor.

WMO Technical Regulations - Implementation  Required actions by Members  General Regulations  GR 128 [2] [notification of compliance] Members shall specifically notify the Secretary-General in writing of their intention to apply the “standard practices” of the Technical Regulations except for those for which they lodge specific deviations. [3] [notification of change] Members shall also inform the Secretary-General, at least three months in advance, of any change in the degree of their implementation of a “standard practice” as previously notified and of the effective date of the change.

WMO Technical Regulations - Implementation  Actions required by Secretariat  General Regulations  GR 127 Decisions concerning changes in the Technical Regulations, together with relevant documents, shall be sent to Members in sufficient time to allow a period of at least nine months between the receipt of these documents and the date of implementation  GR 202 (General functions of the Secretariat) … (8) To maintain records of the extent to which each Member implements the decisions of the Organization;

How to improve WMO Technical Regulations  Principles in the selection of material for inclusion in the Technical Regulations (agreed by Congress)  Technical commissions should not recommend that a Regulation be a standard practice unless it is supported by a strong majority; (mature for global implementation)  Technical Regulations should contain appropriate instructions to Members regarding implementation of the provision in question; (implementable)  No major changes should be made in the Technical Regulations without consulting the appropriate technical commissions; (relevant)  Any amendments proposed to these Technical Regulations submitted by Members or by constituent bodies should be communicated to all Members at least three months before they are submitted to Congress. (globally coordinated)

How to improve WMO Technical Regulations  Proposal – prepare and publish Guidelines for developing WMO Technical Regulations (including International Standards)  Based on:  All relevant WMO material  Experience of other standardizing organizations – e.g., WHO, ICAO, ITU, etc.  ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 – Rules for the structure and drafting of International Standards

How to improve WMO Technical Regulations  ISO/IEC DIR 2 specifies General Principles, e.g.,  TRs should define clear and unambiguous provisions  To achieve their objectives, TRs shall:  be as complete as necessary within the limits specified by their scope,  be consistent, clear and accurate,  take full account of the state of the art,  provide a framework for future technological development,  be comprehensible to qualified persons who have not participated in its preparation, and  take into account the principles for the drafting of documents [contained in the same Doc]

How to improve WMO Technical Regulations  ISO/IEC DIR 2 General Principles:  Performance approach: Whenever possible, requirements shall be expressed in terms of performance rather than design or descriptive characteristics. This approach leaves maximum freedom to technical development. Primarily those characteristics shall be included that are suitable for worldwide (universal) acceptance. Where necessary, owing to differences in legislation, climate, environment, economies, social conditions, trade patterns, etc., several options may be indicated.

How to improve WMO Technical Regulations  ISO/IEC DIR 2 General Principles:  Homogeneity: Uniformity of structure, of style and of terminology shall be maintained not only within each document, but also within a series of associated documents. The structure of associated documents and the numbering of their clauses shall, as far as possible, be identical. Analogous wording shall be used to express analogous provisions; identical wording shall be used to express identical provisions.

How to improve WMO Technical Regulations  ISO/IEC DIR 2 General Principles:  Consistency: In order to achieve the aim of consistency within the complete corpus of documents [published by ISO and IEC], the text of every document shall be in accordance with the relevant provisions of existing basic documents [published by ISO and IEC]. This relates particularly to a.standardized terminology, b.principles and methods of terminology, c.quantities, units and their symbols, d.abbreviated terms, e.bibliographic references, f.technical drawings and diagrams, g.technical documentation, and h.graphical symbols, public information symbols and safety signs.

How to improve WMO Technical Regulations  ISO/IEC DIR 2 General Principles:  Equivalence of official language versions The texts in the different official language versions shall be technically equivalent and structurally identical. The use of bilingualism from the initial stage of drafting is of great assistance in the preparation of clear and unambiguous texts.  Fitness for implementation as a regional or national standard The content of a document [published by ISO and IEC] shall be drawn up in such a way as to facilitate its direct application and its adoption without change as a regional or national standard.