WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/GEN/109 
8 December 2010 
 (10-6602) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION ON THE ITU AND STANDARDS 
 
  The following information was provided by the ITU
 (International Telecommunications 
Union) to the TBT Committee meeting of 3-4 November 2010.   
 
_______________ 
 
 
  
 
International
Telecommunication
Union
 Committed to connecting the world 1ITU and 
Standards
Empowering global 
ICT development
Arthur LevinArthur Levin
Chief, Services DepartmentChief, Services Department
ITU Telecommunication Standardisation ITU Telecommunication Standardisation 
BureauBureau
WTO TBTWTO TBT
4 November 20104 November 2010
 
 
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Committed to connecting the worldIntroduction to ITU
Founded in 1865, oldest specialized agency of the UN
Standards making one of the ITU’s first activities
192 Member States, 780 private sector entities
HQ Geneva, 11 regional offices, 760 staff / 80 nationalities
Named as one of the world’s ten most enduring institutions by 
Booz Allen
Five elected officials:
¾Secretary-General
¾Deputy Secretary-General
¾Director of the Radio Bureau (BR)
¾Director of the Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau 
(TSB)
¾Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT)
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Committed to connecting the world 3Plenipotentiary Conference
ITU Council
ITU-T
World Telecom 
Standardization 
AssemblyITU-R
World/Regional 
Radiocomm
Conference
Radiocomm
AssemblyITU-D
World/Regional
Telecom 
Development 
ConferenceGeneral
Secretariat
TELECOMITU Structure
 
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Committed to connecting the worldITU Membership
Member States: 192 governments
ITU-T, ITU-R, ITU-D Sector Members (565)
¾ITU-T Sector membership fee: 
31,800 CHF (= 20 kEUR)
Associates (154): have right to participate in one 
study group
¾Associate membership fee: 
10,600 CHF (= 7 kEUR)
Today, 95% of the work in ITU-T is done by the 
private sector (Sector Members and Associates)
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Committed to connecting the worldITU-T Structure
Telecommunication Standardization 
Advisory GroupTelecommunication Standardization 
Advisory GroupWTSA 
World  Telecommunication
Standardization Assembly
Study GroupStudy GroupSGSGWorkshops,
Seminars,
Symposia…
IPR
Working Party
Questions : Develop RecommendationsSGSG
WP WP WP
Q
QQQ
QQFocus 
Group
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Committed to connecting the world 6
Without ITU-T standards you 
couldn’t make a telephone call from one side of the world to 
another. 
Without ITU-T standards the 
Internet wouldn’t function. ITU-T Recommendations
connect the world…
 
 
 
 
 
Committed to connecting the worldAs the name Recommendation 
suggests, ITU standards are just 
that – Recommendations which 
only become mandatory if adopted 
in national law. 
7ITU-T and ITU-R 
Recommendations
 
 
 
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Committed to connecting the world 8ITU-T Key Features
Open, transparent, consensus based, fast 
working, public/private partnership
technical standards developed by industry members, when consensus placed on website and if no comments after 4 weeks is in effect approved by 192 governments
ITU standards are therefore truly global, 
open standards, unlike those of many other 
standards bodies, fora or consortium that claim to produce global and open standards, available free of charge
Publicly available database of products and services meeting ITU standards
Organising interoperability events to prove interoperability of different vendors equipment 
Common IPR policy with ISO and IEC (FRAN)
 
 
  
 
Committed to connecting the worldITU-T has two approval processes
The vast majority of ITU standards pass 
without any problems; very few are “difficult”
Two approval processes:
¾“AAP” (= Alternative Approval Process”) for 
technical standards
today 95% of all ITU-T standards go thru AAP
¾“TAP” (= Traditional Approval Process) for 
standards with regulatory/policy implications
today only 5% of all ITU-T standards go thru TAP
An approved standard has the backing of 192 
Member States
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Committed to connecting the worldITU-T is fast
Start work:
within 1 day / few weeks
Approve work: 
4(+) weeks (average 2 months)
for technical standards (95% of work)Develop work:
from weeks to 2-3 yrs
Publish work : 
within days after approval
(“pre-published” standard = non-edited version Æ
Edited version: typically a few months after 
approval)
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Committed to connecting the worldWork in Focus Groups
Works on a well-defined topic
Work in a scheduled time-frame
Establish its own working methods
Non-ITU Members can participate
Output Æ“ITU-T Specification ”
(not Recommendations!)
¾However, output of FG can be input to a study 
group to make it an ITU-T Recommendation
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Committed to connecting the worldJoint Coordination Activities
Currently nine JCAs ( www.itu.int/ITU-
T/jca)
Management tool when subject spans 
more than one study group
For coordination and planning, 
¾Technical work done by the study groups
External organizations can join a JCA
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Committed to connecting the worldFramework for BSG
PP Resolution 123 (Rev. Guadalajara, 
2010)
¾Recognizing “the continued shortage of 
human resources in the standardization field of developing countries, resulting in 
a low level of developing country 
participation in ITU-T and ITU-R meetings  …”
Resolution 44 (WTSA-04): Action Plan
¾Strengthening standards-making 
capabilities
¾Assisting ITU-D in enhancing application 
of standards
¾Human resource building
¾Flagship groups for bridging the gap
¾Fundraising
Resolution 47 (WTDC-06)
¾Enhancement of knowledge and effective 
application of ITU Recommendations in 
developing countries
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Committed to connecting the world 14ITU-T’s strategic goals
“To develop interoperabl e, non-discriminatory 
international standards (ITU-T Recommendations)
To assist in bridging the standardization gap 
between developed and developing countries
To extend and facilitate international cooperation 
among international, regional and national 
standardization bodies”
 
 
  
 
Committed to connecting the worldResearching the Gap
A recent research project by TSB led to 
publication of a major Re port in December 2009 
on what can be done to improve the capacity of 
developing countries to participate in 
standardization, including case studies and best practices. 
“Bridging the Standardization gap — ITU-T 
Research Project: Measuring and Reducing the 
Standards Gap,” December 2009. The report can be downloaded at www.itu.int/oth/T3202000001/en
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Committed to connecting the worldBridging the standardization development gap 
requires a sequence of steps, depending on the level of:
¾economic development
¾local manufacturing capability
¾local R&D capability
¾previous engagement with ITU
These steps can be conceptualised in terms of a 
“Ladder of Standardization Development”The Standardization 
Development LadderEntering proposals at WTSA
on future study questions
and work programmes
Growing usage of ITU 
RecommendationsNominating representativesas study group chairs, vice-
chairs. rapporteurs, focus 
group chairs etc
Giving contributions at 
Study Groups and
related meetings
ITU Sector and Associate
Membership
National training and 
capacity-building in use of 
ITU RecommendationsAttracting ITU meetings
and/or regional groups
(Res 54)
Going to Study 
Groups and related 
meetings
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Committed to connecting the worldParticipation in ITU-T 
Leadership
9
2333
507
 5651 44
461 33
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%
LDCs
Developing
DevelopedITU-T SG Chairs and Vice-Chairs, 1996-2000-2004-2008
   1996         2000          2004         2008
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Committed to connecting the worldParticipation : Contributions
ITU-T Member 
contributions 2008Developing 
countries
Developed 
countries1665 
contributions 
(81%)388 
contributions
19%ITU-T Member 
contributions 2000 Developing 
countries
Developed 
countries1179 
contributions 
(93.8%)78
contributions
(6.2%)
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Committed to connecting the world 19Favorable membership fee for 
Sector Members from 
developing countries
ITU-T Sector membership fee for Sector Members 
from developing countries with annual per capita 
income of less than USD 2 000 according to the 
UNDP classification: CHF 3,975
(reduced from 31,800 SFR)
 
 
 
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Committed to connecting the worldWorld Standards Cooperation: 
ISO, IEC, ITU
Established in 2001
Regular formal and informal contact of ISO, IEC, ITU 
leadership
Goal: strengthen and advance the voluntary consensus-based international standards systems of ITU, ISO, and IEC 
Joint initiatives: common patent policy, workshops, education & training
Avoid duplication and overlap of work
On SharePoint for this meeting, see table which 
details collaboration between ITU-T and ISO, IEC as 
well as ISO/IEC JTC 1
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Committed to connecting the worldCollaboration with Major SDOs
Global Standards Collaboration (15th, 09/2010, China ) 
¾Members: ITU-T, ITU-R, ATIS, ARIB, CCSA, ETSI, ISACC, TIA, 
TTA, TTC, Communications Alliance of Australia
MoU between ITUand ETSI; IEEE Com Soc
MoU on e-business ISO, IEC, ITU, UN/ECE
Most SDOs listed as Sector Members (e.g. IEEE; ETSI)
Many joint workshops (including Kaleidoscope )
Leadership meetings: ISO/IEC JTC1 & IETF
ITU-T and ICANN
¾(Regular secretariat meetings, Reinhard Scholl, TSB Deputy 
Director was member of ICANN Board)
Global Standards Symposium (1stat WTSA 2008)
CTO Group high-level, private sector executives 
meetings 
¾1stat TELECOM World, 6 October 2009; 2ndOctober, 2010
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Committed to connecting the world 22ITU-T role reinforced at PP10
new Resolution “The role of 
telecommunications/ICTs on climate change 
and the protection of the environment”
A strong mandate for ITU-T to show 
leadership in methodology
First ever resolution on Accessibility
Renewed work on Conformance and 
Interoperability
 
 
  
 
Committed to connecting the world 23New membership category for 
Academia
membership fee:
Universities/institutes from developed countries  
CHF 3,975
Universities/institutes from developing countries 
CHF 1,987.50
(Sector Membership fee for industry: CHF 31,800)
 
 
 
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International
Telecommunication
Union
 Committed to connecting the worldIntelligent Transport Systems
New work:
¾Wideband 
communication in cars 
¾Vehicle gateway 
protocol ITU, ISO and IEC and Geneva Motor Show
¾Annual Event
5thedition
PALEXPO, Geneva, 3 - 4 March 2010 
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