At its January meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors removed paragraph 1.c) ("The entity has a separate IARU member-society") from the DXCC Rules criteria for determining a DXCC entity.
This provision, implemented in 1998 as part of the DXCC 2000 Program, had provided that "An entity will be added to the DXCC List as a political entity if it [...] has a separate IARU member-society." Since then, the rule has allowed for the addition of four new DXCC entities and the retention of one existing entity.
Unfortunately, the provision also had the unintended consequence of stimulating applications
for IARU membership that do not further the objectives of the IARU, creating an unfortunate and unnecessary administrative burden.
The rule change will have no effect on entities created by or as the result of the rule. According
to DXCC Rule II, 5. C), "A change in the DXCC criteria shall not affect the status of any entity on the DXCC List at the time of the change." The other two criteria for the determination of a political entity for DXCC continue in effect: 1.a) "The entity is a UN member-state." and 1.b) "The entity (except international organizations) has been assigned a call sign prefix block by the ITU.
" The Board resolved to amend the DXCC rules by deleting IARU membership as a basis for determining a "political entity."