Dear Colleagues,

1 August 2001

Further to the letter from the Chair of UN/CEFACT and myself to Plenary Heads of Delegation of 27 July (see attached) and to the various mails I have seen regarding the EWG’s Rotterdam meeting, the new ad hoc group, and UN/CEFACT’s future organisational structure, I would like to confirm that:

• The CSG is fully committed to ensuring that there is widespread consultation regarding UN/CEFACT’s future structure and that all substantive views are considered. In particular, the Rotterdam meeting provides a unique opportunity for an informed discussion with the EWG. Therefore, at the invitation of the EWG Management Team, at least 6 members of the CSG (including myself) will be attending the Rotterdam meeting to continue those consultations They will be held in parallel with the normal meeting and a key objective will be to develop proposals which will facilitate the full involvement of EWG experts in any new structure;

• The new ad hoc group is being formed to allow UN/CEFACT to continue its very successful work on ebXML while allowing the discussions on the future organisational structure to reach fruition. The group will focus solely on the ebXML work items allocated to UN/CEFACT in Vienna at the end of the rapid development stage of ebXML, (The Business Processes, Core Components and Architecture projects) The ad hoc group will oversee the development of these ebXML projects until the future structure is fully defined and functional, whereupon its work items will be incorporated into the ongoing organisation. Consequently, the lifespan of the ad hoc group will be limited to 12 months;

• The only EWG activity to be affected by the creation of the ad hoc group will be the joint project work with X12 on Core Components. To avoid any duplication of effort, the CSG has concluded that the the work of this team should transfer to the ad hoc group at the end of the Rotterdam meeting. To ensure full coordination between the ad hoc group and the EWG, the CSG has appointed the Chair of the EWG, Pierre Georget, and a member of the EWG management team, Ralph Berwanger, who is also the Vice Chair of X12; to become Vice Chairs of the new group. They will join the Chair, Klaus Naujok, who of course led the ebXML initiative. In addition to effective coordination, I hope the EWG will also develop project proposals for the ad hoc group to consider;

• After taking into account all of the comments arising from the consultation process, the CSG will formulate final proposals on how to incorporate the e-business vision agreed at the last UN/CEFACT Plenary, into a coherent and effective long tem organisational structure. The proposals will then be submitted to the UN/CEFACT Plenary for their consideration.

I hope that the above points clarify the intentions of the CSG. It is committed to move forward in a thoughtful and inclusive manner and to engage in constructive consultation.

I look forward to seeing you in Rotterdam.

Yours sincerely

Ray Walker