General Principles

1. Application. The procedures established in this document apply to all TAB Members and ERS Agents. Moreover, it provides clear and necessary oversight guidance to stakeholders such as Developers, Validation/Verification Bodies, and other global stakeholders.
2. Roles. The ERS Secretariat, in consultation with other ERS entities, is responsible for the development and revision of Standard documents, new Methodologies and subsequent revisions. The Technical Advisory Board (TAB) offers scientific and technical insights and is responsible for reviewing Standard and Methodology documents in the approval procedure. For more information on the role and responsibilities of the TAB, please refer to the Technical Advisory Board document. 
3. Revisions. The development of a new Standard document, a new Methodology, and subsequent revisions must go through the procedures described below unless they are considered Direct Revisions. 
4. Direct Revisions. This procedure allows the Secretariat to directly modify Standard documents to adapt to market changes swiftly without overloading the TAB. Direct revisions can be made in the following instances:
   1. Accreditation and Endorsement bodies. An effort to comply with international standards and accreditation bodies (e.g. ICROA, CORSIA, IC-VCM).
   2. Legal and regulatory framework. An effort to adapt to changes in the applicable legal and regulatory framework.
   3. Minor changes. For matters that do not significantly alter the intent or implications of existing Standard or methodology documents.

Direct Revisions are not subjected to TAB approval or Public Comment Periods. A Direct Revision is strictly restricted to the topic that justifies it.

5. Continuous Improvement. All procedures described in this document aim to ameliorate the Standard documentation, Methodologies and associated documents.
6. Record Keeping. The Secretariat is responsible for keeping a permanent record of all elements and versions of the Programme and Methodologies, as well as every version of each Standard Setting and Methodology Development Procedure document, namely:
   1. Methodology Development/Revision Mandate or Standard Development/Revision Mandate;
   2. Methodology Development/Revision Mandate or Standard Development/Revision Proposition;
   3. Call for Public Comment Period;
   4. Public Comment Digest;
   5. Final Revision Proposition.
7. Public Disclosure. The Secretariat is responsible for publicly disclosing the above documents on the ERS website, and for guaranteeing that Stakeholders have equal access to them.