Paralympic shooting is becoming an increasingly popular sport, featuring stars such as Britain's 27-year-old Beijing 2008 gold medallist Matt Skelton, who won Paralympic gold just three years after being paralysed in a car accident.

Xavier Gonzalez, IPC chief executive, said: "Working together with the ISSF, IPC shooting will have effective communication strategies with the organisation that strengthens the sport well into the future.

"This is an important step in growing shooting and will be beneficial for everyone involved."

The MoU covers several areas including management, promotion of competitions and events, knowledge exchange and general development of the Paralympic Sport and participating athletes.

While the IPC's shooting competitions will remain completely independent in the near future, it was agreed that ISSF would work with IPC Shooting to identify suitable ISSF technical officials to be involved in IPC recognised competitions.

In such cases the ISSF would remain as the sole and supreme authority controlling the certification of ISSF officials.

"This is an important step forward in our collaboration with the IPC," said ISSF executive director Franz Schreiber.

"The IPC will keep on organising and managing specific competitions reserved to shooters with a disability, but the ISSF will now share its expertise in the fields of regulations, coaching and judgment.

"We are already organising the first course for judges with a disability, and further courses will be launched next season."

The MoU also states that the IPC and ISSF may enter into additional co-operative agreements in the future to expand on this foundation.

The IPC and ISSF first met in May.

The two exchanged rules and regulations as well as discussed areas of common interest with the purpose of creating a strong working relationship.

Two months later countries were informed that both organisations were moving forward in signing the MoU.

Shooting events for athletes with a disability are governed and managed by the IPC and co-ordinated by the IPC shooting sport technical committee following the modified rules of the ISSF, the governing body of the Olympic shooting sport.

These rules take into account the differences that exist between shooting for the able-bodied and shooting for persons with a disability.

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