TERMS OF REFERENCE

The WMO Congress at its 16th session (Cg-XVI, 2011) agreed that the special emphasis of the WMO on service delivery, including climate services, requires a renewed effort in documenting that all relevant processes from physical measurements in observations to forecasts and warnings issued to all user and customer groups are undertaken within a sound Quality Management (QM) Framework (QMF).

The key element in implementation of the QM System (QMS) for marine meteorological and oceanographic service is the capacity development and associated training, while implementing the ISO 9000 quality management standards where possible. Toward this goal, an essential part in the marine sector is the development of competency requirements for personnel in marine meteorological and oceanographic agencies.

To pursue this work during the intersessional period, the ad hoc Task Team on Marine Competency Requirements (TT-MCR) will:

1. Develop a draft of an internationally acceptable competency framework focusing on the competency requirements for marine meteorological and oceanographic services, based on the guidance on development and implementation of Quality Management Systems (QMS) in National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) that was developed by the WMO Task Team on Quality Management Systems Implementation;


2. Review existing QMS-relevant processes and regulations of the countries for marine meteorological and oceanographic services, in order to understand the current status and to harmonize their content and policies within the proposed competency requirements;


3. Review and propose update the part IV of the WMO-No. 558 (Training in the Field of Marine Meteorology), and advise on the future development of education and training programmes to meet competency based requirements for marine meteorology and oceanography;


4. To assist Members / Member States who plan and conduct QMS pilot projects, in line with an application of the competency requirements, and within a framework for arrangements” between Members with a well-developed QMS and other Members embarking on a QMS implementation;


5. To liaise with and respond to the WMO Task Team on Quality Management Systems Implementation with regard to the Commission’s activities to promote QMS.