3 Membership
Categories and Obligations
3.1
Participating Membership
P members within JTC 1 shall be NBs that are Member Bodies of
ISO or National Commit
3.1.1 P
members of JTC 1 and
its SCs have an obligation to take an active part in the work of JTC 1
or the SC and to attend meetings. P members of JTC 1 and its SCs
have an obligation to vote approval, disapproval, or declared
abstention within the time limits laid down on all questions submitted
for voting (unless 3.1.2 applies) within JTC 1 or the SC.
"Abstention" is an appropriate response (with or without comment) if an
NB is not confident that their technical review is sufficient to cast
an "approve" or "disapprove" vote. P members of JTC 1 have an
obligation to vote on FDISs prepared by JTC 1 or its SCs as well as
DISs distributed for fast-track processing.
3.1.2 A P member may have an
interest in the field of JTC 1 without having interest or competence in
all of the work items which may be dealt with. In such an
instance, a P member may inform the JTC 1 Secretariat, the SC
Secretariat and the ITTF at the beginning of the work, or at a later
stage, that it will abstain from participation in discussion or voting
on specific items. Such a position, established and recorded by
JTC 1, shall entitle the P member to be absent from meetings and to
abstain from voting on the relevant FDISs.
3.1.3 The JTC 1 or SC
Secretariat shall notify the Secretaries-General if a P member of JTC 1
or the SC has been persistently inactive (unless the conditions of
3.1.2 apply) and has failed to make a contribution
to two consecutive
plenary meetings of JTC 1 or the SC concerned, either by direct
participation, by correspondence or by a proxy voting arrangement as
provided for in 7.7.7 or has
failed to vote on questions submitted for
voting within JTC 1 or the SC. Upon receipt of such notification,
the Secretaries-General shall remind the NB of its obligation to take
an active part in the work of the committee. In the absence of an
acceptable response to this reminder, the member shall automatically
have its status changed to that of O member. An NB having its
status so changed may, after a period of twelve months, be reinstated
to P member status on request.
3.2
Observing Membership
Any NB that is a Member Body of ISO or National Committee of IEC,
or both, may elect to be an O member within JTC 1. Correspondent
members of ISO are also eligible to be O members of JTC 1. O
members have no power of vote, but have options to attend meetings,
make contributions and receive documents. O members of JTC 1
subcommittees may nominate experts to participate in any working group
of the subcommittee in which they have O membership. O members of
JTC 1 or its SCs may be requested (at not less than triennial
intervals) by the relevant Secretariat to confirm whether or not they
wish to retain their membership status in that committee.
3.3
Liaison Membership
3.3.1
General
3.3.1.1 Establishment of liaison
should be initiated by a
written liaison statement from the requester and confirmed by the
receiver. A liaison statement should include:
- Identification of the requester
- Reason for liaison
- Type of liaison
- Category of liaison (for external liaison)
- Identification of liaison representative (mandatory for technical
liaison)
3.3.1.2 Liaison membership has
no power of vote, but has some options to attend meetings and receive
documents. Liaison members may be requested (at not less than
triennial intervals) by the relevant Secretariat to confirm whether or
not they wish to retain their membership status in that committee.
3.3.1.3 It is emphasised that
in order to be effective, liaison shall operate in both directions, and
committee Secretariats should ensure that reciprocal arrangements are
made by those organisations that are liaison members.
3.3.1.4 JTC 1 should seek
the full (and, if possible, formal) backing of the main organisations
in liaison for each IS, TR or ISP in which the latter are interested.
3.3.2
Types
of Liaison
3.3.2.1 Technical liaison
A technical liaison is a specific technical working relationship
between JTC 1, its SCs or WGs and another organisation to accomplish a
specific technical coordination purpose. For a technical liaison,
an official liaison representative must be appointed by JTC 1 or an
SC. The liaison representative(s) is responsible for attending
the meetings of the outside organisation and for preparing written
liaison reports in a timely manner:
- From the parent body to the outside organisation
- To the parent body following attendance at the meeting of the
outside organisation.
All pertinent documentation shall be exchanged between the two
organisations (see 8.3).
3.3.2.2 Formal liaison
Formal liaison is a formal exchange of documents between two
organisations for the purpose of keeping each other informed of their
work.
3.3.3
Internal Liaison
3.3.3.1 Liaison within JTC 1
3.3.3.1.1 SCs working in related
fields shall establish and
maintain liaison.
3.3.3.1.2 The establishment,
termination and maintenance of such liaison are the responsibility of
the respective SC Secretariats.
3.3.3.1.3 An SC may designate
liaison representatives to follow the work of another SC or several of
its WGs. Notice of the designation of such representatives shall
be given to the Secretariat of the SC concerned, which shall furnish
all relevant documents to the representative(s) or to the Secretariat
of that SC, or both (see 8.3).
3.3.3.1.4 Such
representatives shall have the right to participate in the meetings of
the SC or WG whose work they have been designated to follow but shall
not have the right to vote. They may contribute to the discussion
in meetings, including the submission of written contributions, on
matters within the competence of their own SC.
3.3.3.2 Liaison with other ISO and IEC
Technical Committees
3.3.3.2.1 Arrangements for adequate
liaison between JTC 1 and TCs
or SCs of ISO and IEC are essential. The JTC 1 and SC
Secretariats are responsible for the establishment and termination of
liaison between their committees and other TCs or SCs of ISO and IEC,
but shall inform the ITTF. As far as the study of new subjects is
concerned, the ITTF seeks the agreement of all interested parties in
ISO and IEC so that the work will go forward without overlap or
duplication of effort.
3.3.3.2.2 Liaison
representatives designated by JTC 1 or one of its SCs or other ISO or
IEC committees shall have the right to participate in the discussions
of the committee whose work they have been designated to follow and may
submit written contributions. They shall not have the right to
vote.
3.3.4
External Liaison
3.3.4.1 General
3.3.4.1.1 The desirability of
liaison between JTC 1 and
its SCs and international or broadly based regional organisations and
specialised organisations working or interested in similar or related
fields should be taken into account at an early stage of the work.
3.3.4.1.2 The
Secretaries-General are responsible for establishing and terminating
the appropriate liaisons with other organisations in consultation with
the Secretariat of JTC 1 or SCs concerned.
3.3.4.2 Liaison Categories
Classification of liaison organisations shall be established
separately for JTC 1 and for each of its SCs, and is recorded at the
ITTF. Three categories of liaison with external organisations
have been established:
Category A
Organisations which make an effective contribution to and
participate actively in the work of JTC 1 or its SCs for most of the
questions dealt with by the committee.
- If an organisation requesting Category A liaison does not
currently have Category A liaison with JTC 1, the request will be
forwarded to the JTC 1 Secretariat by the ITTF, along with appropriate
documentation (i.e. information about the requester and its interest in
the work of JTC 1). In the case of liaison with an SC, the JTC 1
Secretariat will ask the appropriate SC Secretariat for a
recommendation on the establishment of the proposed liaison. The
JTC 1 Secretariat will forward the request (and the SC Secretariat
recommendation in the case of liaison with a subcommittee) to JTC 1 for
approval either by letter ballot or by a vote at a meeting.
- If a requesting organisation currently has Category A liaison
with JTC 1, a request for establishing a new liaison will be forwarded
by the ITTF to the Secretariat of the committee with which liaison is
sought, along with the documentation mentioned above. The
Secretariat will forward the request to the committee for approval
either by letter ballot or by vote at a meeting. The JTC 1
Secretariat shall be copied on all correspondence.
Category B
Organisations which have indicated a wish to be kept informed of
the work of JTC 1 or any of its SCs.
Category C
Organisations which make an effective technical contribution and
participate actively at the WG or project level of JTC 1 or its SCs.
- Category C liaisons are proposed by JTC 1 to the ITTF after
receiving a recommendation from the appropriate JTC 1 subsidiary body,
i.e. an SC (or WG reporting directly to JTC 1).
- Each request for liaison status forwarded to JTC 1 from an
appropriate JTC 1 subsidiary body must contain a statement of expected
benefits and responsibilities accepted by both the JTC 1 organisation
and the organisation requesting liaison status.
- The liaison group must agree to pay any meeting and documentation
expenses that other participants are required to pay.
- The JTC 1 subsidiary body shall review the liaison activity on a
two-year cycle to ensure that the liaison group is, in fact, actively
participating and there is appropriate NB participation. The
result of this review shall be forwarded to ITTF for further action.
- The ITTF must reaffirm the liaison status of the organisation if
there is continued evidence of active participation in the work of the
WG or project and appropriate NB participation exists.
If a request for liaison is considered by JTC 1 in the first instance,
and category C liaison is thought to be applicable, JTC 1 may request
the appropriate JTC 1 subsidiary body or bodies to consider the request
and apply the above procedure.
3.3.4.3 Liaison with ITU T
Each SC shall approve a comprehensive listing of its
representatives authorised to conduct liaison on behalf of the SC
(indeed, on behalf of JTC 1 and ISO/IEC in the area delegated to that
SC). Those who deal with ITU T shall be responsible for liaison
on one or more specific Study Groups and Questions. In regard to
those activities, the SC liaison representative speaks for ISO and IEC.
All contributions to ITU T should be subject to ITU T Recommendations
A.1 and A.2,
and other ITU T requirements as may be imposed.
Specifically,
- Each contribution should identify which, if any, prior
contributions it supersedes;
- Each contribution should be addressed to only one Study
Group. However, other Study Groups which may be interested in the
contribution may also be identified.
[Note: In addition to liaison between JTC 1 and ITU T, two methods for
collaboration on work of mutual interest are defined (see 2.6.4 and
Annex K, particularly Clause 4, Modes of
Co-operation.)]
3.3.4.4 Liaison Co-ordinator
If an external liaison
organisation deals with more than one SC, a coordination officer shall
be identified by JTC 1. The task of this officer is to receive
all contributions going to this external liaison to ensure coherence of
the JTC 1 position. If the coordination officer detects any
contradictions, the coordination officer is responsible for reporting
this to the JTC 1 Chairman and the ITTF. It is the JTC 1
Chairman's duty to co-ordinate the position with the SC Chairmen
involved.
3.4 Coordination
3.4.1
General
3.4.1.1 With the great
number of ISO and IEC technical
bodies engaged in the preparation of International Standards,
coordination is essential in order to avoid difficulties and harmful
effects on the technical work of ISO and IEC.
3.4.1.2 The JTC 1 and SC
Secretariats shall make every effort to encourage their members to
consider ISO, IEC and JTC 1 as a whole and the interests of other TCs
working in related fields, and to avoid the risk of the committee
working in isolation.
3.4.1.3 To facilitate
coordination at the international level, members of the relevant
committees should take all possible steps to achieve coordination at
the national level, so as to reach a single national view-point before
taking firm positions in the separate international discussions.
3.4.2 Responsibilities for Coordination
3.4.2.1 The primary responsibility
for achieving good
coordination both within JTC 1 and with the work of other TCs resides
with the committee Secretariats. The JTC 1 Secretariat (with the
assistance of the JTC 1 Chairman and the ITTF) shall make every effort
to ensure coordination of the work of JTC 1 and its SCs with the other
ISO and IEC TCs.
3.4.2.2 The ITTF is responsible
for overall coordination of the technical work of ISO and IEC in the
field of information technology and for providing any assistance in its
power which the JTC 1 Secretariat may request for the solution of a
particular problem. The ITTF may, if necessary, request the
assistance of the TMB/SMB.
3.4.2.3 The Secretariats of JTC
1 and its SCs shall keep their P members informed of current or
potential problems of coordination of work and, where appropriate,
request their assistance, including possible actions that could be
taken at the national level, in finding solutions to these problems.
3.4.3
Procedure for Coordination and
Resolution of Difficulties
3.4.3.1 The JTC 1 Secretariat shall, in
co-operation with the
JTC 1 Chairman, ensure that liaisons are established and maintained
with other TCs and SCs working in related fields (see also 3.3.2 and
3.3.3). The practical operation of these
liaisons includes
exchange of relevant documents (e.g. NPs and proposed drafts for
standards at their earliest stage), exchange of liaison representatives
at meetings and appointment of liaison officers if needed.
Special attention of the technical body liaison should be drawn to
specific matters or particular documents on which its agreement or
opinion is required. Secretariats of the technical bodies in
liaison shall maintain day-to-day contacts in important cases and may
arrange ad hoc meetings.
3.4.3.2 In all cases of
unsatisfactory coordination, contradictions or discrepancies, the
Secretariats concerned shall, in consultation as appropriate with the
committee Chairmen and the ITTF, make every attempt to resolve the
difficulty. The Secretaries-General may, if necessary, call an ad hoc
meeting of the interests directly involved.
3.4.3.3 In cases where the
procedures indicated above fail to resolve the difficulties, the
Secretaries-General may refer the matter to the TMB/SMB for decision
after obtaining, if required, the opinion of an advisory body. If
necessary the TMB/SMB may make recommendations on the subject to
Councils.
3.4.3.4
There may be a few
exceptional cases where the problem concerning some differences, real
or apparent, may remain unresolved in spite of all efforts. In
all such cases, the Secretariat requiring that such a difference be
maintained in an FCD shall submit a full report of all the attempts
made to remove the difference, giving the justification for the final
decision, as part of the explanatory report (see 12.6.3.9).
3.4.4.
Basic or Harmonized Standards
3.4.4.1 In addition to the
standards of TCs working in related
fields, JTC 1 should comply with basic, a standard that has a
wide-ranging coverage or contains general provision for one particular
field, or harmonized, standards on the same subject approved by
different standardized bodies that establish interchangability of
products, processes and services, or mutual understanding of test
results or information provided according to these standards, standards
and pay attention to such other standards of ISO and IEC which affect
their work. It is the duty of the JTC 1 and SC Secretariats to
bring the contents of the relevant standards to the notice of members
of JTC 1, SCs and WGs. Coordinating standards for specific fields
shall be identified and furnished to the technical bodies concerned.
3.4.4.2 Attention should
similarly be drawn to ISO and IEC policies concerning standards for
reference materials required for end products.