Writing Guide
Advice from Jean Michel, Senior Consultant to the WISPO.
I read carefully the basic texts that were carefully developed by WMO’s fathers (and mothers), and I believe that our roadmap is set without any ambiguity in the introduction of WMO 49, and perfectly serve our needs. No need to re-invent the wheel, especially in these very sensitive areas of international regulations! I believe it is useful to quote and read some large extracts (I underlined some parts):
5. The definitions of these two types of Regulations are as follows:
The standard practices and procedures:
Shall be the practices and procedures which it is necessary that Members follow or implement; and therefore
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….
The recommended practices and procedures:
(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) …..
6. In accordance with the above definitions, Members shall do their utmost to implement the standard practices and procedures. …
7. Members are urged to comply with recommended practices and procedures, …..
….
9. Certain notes (preceded by the indication NOTE) are included in the Technical Regulations for explanatory purposes; they may, for instance, refer to relevant WMO guides and WMO publications of factual information. These notes do not have the status of Technical Regulations. (The WMO guides describe practices, procedures and specifications which Members are invited to follow or implement in establishing and conducting their arrangements in compliance with the Technical Regulations …in their respective countries.)
….
(a) Technical commissions should not recommend that a Regulation be a standard practice unless it is supported by a strong majority;
(b) Technical Regulations should contain appropriate instructions to Members regarding implementation of the provision in question;
(c) No major changes should be made in the Technical Regulations without consulting the appropriate technical commissions;
(d) 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.
13. Amendments to the Technical Regulations - as a rule - are approved by Congress.
Paragraph 9 does provide the mechanisms for including references to the WIS guide (and other guides), but I still believe that it is not appropriate to do so in each paragraph, possibly only in each large section of the Manual.
I also believe that we can derive from the above text that:
a) the main body of Tech Reg 49 contains fundamental standard practices and procedures, which less sensitive to evolution of techniques;
b) the annexes, i.e. manuals describe standard and recommended practices and procedures as regards their essential elements;
c) guides describe practices, procedures and specifications that facilitate implementation of standard and recommended practices and procedures.
I hope it helps!
Jean-Michel
I read carefully the basic texts that were carefully developed by WMO’s fathers (and mothers), and I believe that our roadmap is set without any ambiguity in the introduction of WMO 49, and perfectly serve our needs. No need to re-invent the wheel, especially in these very sensitive areas of international regulations! I believe it is useful to quote and read some large extracts (I underlined some parts):
QUOTE
Types of Regulations and notes
4. The Technical Regulations comprise standard practices and procedures and recommended practices and procedures.5. The definitions of these two types of Regulations are as follows:
The standard practices and procedures:
Shall be the practices and procedures which it is necessary that Members follow or implement; and therefore
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….
The recommended practices and procedures:
(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) …..
6. In accordance with the above definitions, Members shall do their utmost to implement the standard practices and procedures. …
7. Members are urged to comply with recommended practices and procedures, …..
….
9. Certain notes (preceded by the indication NOTE) are included in the Technical Regulations for explanatory purposes; they may, for instance, refer to relevant WMO guides and WMO publications of factual information. These notes do not have the status of Technical Regulations. (The WMO guides describe practices, procedures and specifications which Members are invited to follow or implement in establishing and conducting their arrangements in compliance with the Technical Regulations …in their respective countries.)
Status of annexes and appendices
10. WMO publications (other than the Technical Regulations (Volumes I to III)) which contain regulatory material having the status of the Technical Regulations are annexes to the Technical Regulations. These annexes, normally also called manuals, are established by decision of Congress and are intended to facilitate the application of Technical Regulations to specific fields. In principle, annexes may contain both standard and recommended practices and procedures.….
Updating of the Technical Regulations and their annexes
12. The Technical Regulations are updated, as necessary, in the light of developments in meteorology and hydrology and meteorological and hydrological techniques and in the applications of meteorology. Certain principles previously agreed upon by Congress and applied in the selection of material for inclusion in the Technical Regulations are reproduced below. These principles provide guidance for constituent bodies, in particular technical commissions, when dealing with matters pertaining to the Technical Regulations:(a) Technical commissions should not recommend that a Regulation be a standard practice unless it is supported by a strong majority;
(b) Technical Regulations should contain appropriate instructions to Members regarding implementation of the provision in question;
(c) No major changes should be made in the Technical Regulations without consulting the appropriate technical commissions;
(d) 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.
13. Amendments to the Technical Regulations - as a rule - are approved by Congress.
UNQUOTE
Paragraph 9 does provide the mechanisms for including references to the WIS guide (and other guides), but I still believe that it is not appropriate to do so in each paragraph, possibly only in each large section of the Manual.
I also believe that we can derive from the above text that:
a) the main body of Tech Reg 49 contains fundamental standard practices and procedures, which less sensitive to evolution of techniques;
b) the annexes, i.e. manuals describe standard and recommended practices and procedures as regards their essential elements;
c) guides describe practices, procedures and specifications that facilitate implementation of standard and recommended practices and procedures.
I hope it helps!
Jean-Michel