The Technical Regulations of WMO are determined by Congress in accordance with Article 8 (d) of the Convention. In the area of marine meteorology, WMO guidance and regulation documents, including the Manual on Marine Meteorological Services (WMO-No.558) and the Guide to Marine Meteorological Services (WMO-No.471), are considered as ISO documents by NMHSs.

The WMO Executive Council at its 64th session (2012) decided to review and revise the WMO Technical Regulations (WMO-No. 49), Volume I: General Meteorological Standards and Recommended Practices, to which the WMO-No.558 has notified as the status of Technical Regulations, as Annex VI.

Accordingly, The WMO Executive Council at its 65th session (2013) endorsed the proposal by JCOMM to review the overall structure of the WMO-No.558 and WMO-No.471, in view of new structures for those mandatory publications avoiding duplication and/or potential conflict in contents.

The participants in this working session will deliver and draft outlines for the revised structure of WMO-No.558 and WMO-No.471, taking into account the decisions and requirements identified in the precedent governing body meetings and discussions of the ETMSS experts and METAREA Coordinator, and based on the WMO guidelines described in the WMO-No.1127. The proposed outline will be duly reviewed by the experts of JCOMM through its Expert Teams, Groups and Management Committee, for the submission to the 17th World Meteorological Congress (WMO Cg-17; 2015) for Members' consideration and approval.