International telecommunication union

INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION Telecommunication Standardization Bureau

Geneva, 19 December 1996

Ref:	TSB Circular 3
Tel:	[phone]

- To the Administrations of the Member States of the Union; - To ITU-T Sector members; - To the ITU-T Study Group Chairmen and Vice- Chairmen; Copy: - To the Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau; - To the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau

Subject:

Rules of procedures, working methods, study group responsibility and mandates in the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector

To the Director-General,

Dear Sir,

1 As you are aware, WTSC-96 has adopted new rules of procedures, working methods and revised the study group responsibility and mandates.

2 The following Resolutions and Recommendations of the A-series are annexed for your information:

0. 
   Resolution 1 - Rules of procedures of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) - reproduced in Annex 1.
   
1. 
   Resolution 2 - Study group responsibility and mandates - reproduced in Annex 2.
   
2. 
   Recommendation A.1 - Work methods for study groups of ITU Telecommunication Sector (ITU-T) - reproduced in Annex 3.
   
3. 
   Recommendation A.2 - Presentation of contributions relative to the study of Questions assigned to ITU-T - reproduced in Annex 4.
   

3 I should be grateful if you could forward this Circular and particularly its annexes, to those to whom they may concern within your organization, since these texts are essential for those participating in the work of the ITU-T.

4 For your information, Annex 5 gives the full list of Resolutions and Recommendations of the A-series adopted by WTSC-96. These texts will be published shortly in Book No. 1 of WTSC-96.

5 Finally, please take note that henceforth for better clarity in all ITU-T texts the terms "Member" and "member" will be replaced by "Member States" and "Sector Members" as promulgated in ITU Circular 30 dated 19 December 1996.

Yours faithfully,

Th. Irmer

Director of the Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau

Annexes: as mentioned

ANNEX 1
(to TSB Circular 3)

RESOLUTION 1

Rules of procedure of the itu telecommunication
standardization sector (ITU-T)

(Geneva, 1996)¹

The WTSC,

considering

a) that, in accordance with Article 17 of the Constitution (Geneva, 1992) the duties of the ITU T shall be to study technical, operating and tariff questions and to issue Recommendations on them with a view to developing telecommunication standards, on a worldwide basis;

b) that the ITU-T Recommendations and reports resulting from these studies must be in harmony with the International Telecommunication Regulations (Melbourne, 1988), complement the basic principles therein and assist all those concerned in the provision and operation of telecommunication services to meet the objectives set down in the Preamble and Article 1 of those Regulations;

c) that accordingly, the rapid developments in telecommunication technology and services require timely and reliable ITU-T Recommendations to assist all Member States in the balanced development of their telecommunication infrastructures;

d) that general working arrangements of the Telecommunication Standardization and Radiocommunication Sectors are defined in the Convention (Geneva, 1992 and Kyoto, 1994);

e) that careful review of the more detailed working arrangements has been made in order to adapt them to meet the increasing demand for developing Recommendations with the most effective use of the limited resources within Member States and ITU headquarters,

decides

that, as far as the ITU-T is concerned, the general provisions referred to in d) above shall be amplified by the provisions set down in this Resolution and in the Resolutions to which they refer. In case of conflict, the Constitution and the Convention (in that order) shall prevail over this Resolution.

SECTION 1

WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION STANDARDIZATION CONFERENCES

1.1 Preparations for the World Telecommunication Standardization Conference (WTSC)

1.1.1 If the WTSC meets at the seat of the Union, the precise date of the meeting shall be decided by the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) in agreement with the Secretary-General of the Union. If the WTSC does not meet at the seat of the Union, the exact date of the meeting shall be decided by the inviting government in agreement with the Director of the TSB.

1.1.2 The Secretary-General of the ITU shall send an invitation to participate in the WTSC to all Member States of the Union. The invitation shall also be sent, in conformity with Article 25 of the Convention (or Article 28 according to the circumstances), to those entities duly authorized according to Article 19 of the Convention. If the WTSC does not meet at the seat of the Union, the Secretary-General of the ITU shall issue the above-mentioned invitation on behalf of the inviting government.

1.1.3 Member States and Sector Members of the ITU-T (Constitution 110-112) (Geneva, 1992 and Kyoto, 1994) wishing to participate in the WTSC are required to advise the Director of the TSB, in writing, at least one month before the meeting, of the names of the delegates of Administrations especially the Heads of Delegation and participants of duly authorized entities who will attend meetings of the WTSC. The Director of the TSB shall forward this information to the Administration of the inviting government, if any.

1.1.4 The Secretary-General of the ITU shall invite the Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau (BR), the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), the United Nations, the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations which reciprocally allow representatives of the Union to attend their conferences, and the international organizations and regional telecommunication organizations entitled to participate in the work of the ITU-T under Article 19 of the Convention (Geneva, 1992), to attend the WTSC in an advisory capacity. The United Nations, the specialized agencies and other international and regional telecommunication organizations are required to provide the names of their observers in the manner specified in 1.1.3 above for Sector Members of the ITU-T.

1.1.5 Prior to the official opening of the WTSC the Heads of Delegation shall meet:

a) to prepare, on the basis of proposals by the Director of the TSB, the programme of work of the WTSC, for submission to the latter at its first meeting;

b) to designate the persons who will be proposed as Vice-Chairmen and, if necessary (when the WTSC meets at the seat of the Union), Chairman of the WTSC;

c) to determine the Committees to be proposed to the WTSC for establishment.