Providing a standardised system for describing the malformations found in neonates, infants, children and adults with congenital disease has been a much-sought goal for many working in this field over the last half-century. We are now close to achieving that goal. At the recent World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, the International group formed to address this problem presented its suggested solution. In light of the importance of these activities, I asked some of the major contributors to these happenings to summarise the current situation. Rodney Franklin, Marie Béland, and Otto Krogmann agreed to undertake this task. The report below is their summary of the activities of their colleagues.