CBS-16/INF.1(2), p. 2

World Meteorological Organization
COMMISSION FOR BASIC SYSTEMS
Sixteenth Session
Guangzhou, China, 23 to 29 November 2016 / CBS-16/INF.1(2)
Submitted by:
Secretary-General
14.IX.2016

Document processing for CBS-16

Document style for CBS16

1. CBS16 will use the document style that was introduced for EC68.

2. CBS-16 will use two types of document. Doc. (documents) have the contents listed below; these will appear in the final report. INF. (information) papers provide progress reports or information relevant to decisions at the meeting and will only appear in the “Part 2” report.

3. The documents of type Doc. will consist of up to five parts, and every document will contain a title page and at least one of decision, resolution or recommendation. The parts are:

(a) Title page. This identifies the document, lists the decisions and actions to be taken, and will provide a summary of which components of the document have already been approved by the session;

(b) Decisions (optional) place on record instructions/directives to the OPAGs or Management Group that follow from CBS, Congress or EC Resolutions or Decisions, or that provide records of CBS opinion/observations on a specific topic, procedural decisions and other decisions pertaining to the internal matters of CBS, corresponding to General Regulation 182(c);

(c) Resolutions (optional) are formal decisions on matters that concern the internal activities of the Commission, corresponding to General Regulation 182(b);

(d) Recommendations (optional) to Executive Council or to Congress on amendments to Technical Regulations or the Manuals and Guides managed by CBS, or other decisions that require action by all WMO Members or by other constituent bodies;

(e) Background information (optional) is additional information that is essential to support the decision being asked for. This should be short and so far as possible refer to pre-existing documents for more detail. This part of the document will not appear in the final report.

Document processing

4. Documents will be processed in a similar way to those of EC68.

5. The first version (DRAFT 1) of documents will be published on the CBS-16 session website, and members of the Commission will be invited to send suggestions for improving the document to the Secretariat (). These proposals will be assessed and the second draft, as appropriate, (DRAFT 2) posted to the CBS-16 session website. These documents will be available in all six WMO official languages.

6. Information documents will be posted to the CBS-16 website, but are not intended for amendment or discussion. These will normally only be available in English.

7. During the session, the chairperson for an agenda item will lead the discussion on the documents for that item. Within a document, each decision will be discussed separately. In many cases each component of that decision, such as annexes to it, will be discussed individually. Following the practice at EC-68, component parts of a document may be approved by the session when other components of the document still need additional debate. Documents amended during the session will be posted as successive drafts 2, 3, …, and the final approved version will be marked "APPROVED".

8. Discussion of the document will stop in one of two ways. The complete document may be approved, in which case any agreed changes to the document will be included and the approved version of the document published on the CBS-16 website in the “Provisional report” folder. Alternatively, the chairperson of the session may decide that no further progress can be made with the document at that time, in which case changes to the document will be included in the next draft of the document, and the modified document will be published on the CBS-16 website. This will be published as the next draft in the sequence. In the case that components of the document were approved, the title page of the document will indicate those components.

9. Versions of documents created during the session will only be available in English, with the condition that the revised texts are read out clearly with interpretation in all WMO official languages.

After session publication

10. Approved documents from the session will be translated into all six WMO official languages and placed on the WMO website as the "Provisional report" within two weeks of the closure of CBS-16.

11. The approved documents, the agenda and the list of participants will be combined to form the abridged report of the session that will be edited and published in the six WMO official languages. A second part of the report consisting of the information documents and background information (see paragraph 3(e)) will also be published; the contents will be inserted verbatim from the original documents without further translation.

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