APNIC's policies are developed by the membership and broader Internet community.  The major media for policy development are the face-to-face APNIC Meetings, which are held twice each year, and mailing list discussions.

Phases of the policy development process

There are three main phases of the APNIC policy development process:

• Before the meeting
• At the meeting
• After the meeting
  

Before the meeting

You must submit your proposed policy or amendment to the APNIC Secretariat at least four weeks prior to the meeting at which the proposal will be considered.

After the SIG Chair accepts the proposal.  It will be posted to the mailing list so that the community can discuss it.  This allows anybody to discuss the proposal, and it is an important way for people who cannot attend the meeting to have their say.  All discussion is taken into account when the proposal is discussed at the APNIC Open Policy Meeting (OPM).

At the meeting

At the OPM itself, the proposed policies are presented [template for proposal presentations (19.5 kb)] during the appropriate SIG session.  This is your opportunity to present your proposal in person, or by other means if you are unable to attend.  The community will use the opportunity to comment on the proposal.

If the proposal reaches consensus, the SIG Chair reports the decision at the APNIC Member Meeting (AMM) at the end of the week.  The APNIC membership is then asked to ensorse the SIG's decision.

After the meeting

Within a week of the proposal's endorsement at the APNIC Member Meeting (AMM), the proposal is sent back to the mailing list for an eight-week comment period.  If any changes were made to the proposal during the APNIC meeting, the eight-week comment period gives the community the opportunity to comment on the modified proposal.

If the proposal is deemed to have reached consensus during the eight-week comment period, the SIG Chair will ask the APNIC Executive Council (EC) to endorse the proposal.

After the APNIC EC endorses the policy proposal, the APNIC Secretariat implements the policy.  This usually occurs a minimum of three months after EC endorsement.