ICC CEO David Richardson confirmed the development in a press conference in Kolkata and also stated that a global ranking system will be launched for the format.
At present, there are 18 members with T20I status - 12 full members plus Scotland, Netherlands, Hong Kong, UAE, Oman and Nepal.
"All Women's team matches will be awarded T20 International status on July 1, 2018. All the men's team matches will be given T20 International status on January 1, 2019," Richardson said.
On stricter punishments...
In the wake of a controversy-marred Test series between South Africa and Australia, the ICC also stated that they will clamp down heavily on infringements like ball tampering and sledging.
"Stricter and heavier transactions for ball tampering and using abusive language, sledging and dissent. We want penalties in place. Fines are not proving to be the answer. The cricket committee will come back with plans," Richardson said.
On the future of Champions Trophy...
Even before the completion of the Champions Trophy 2017, the future of the multi-team event has been up in the air. There have been talks of scraping the trophy altogether, but Richardson has now stated that: "In all likelihood, the 2021 Champions Trophy will be a T20 WC." While the decision to convert the 2021 edition has met with some reservations from BCCI, the decision now stands finalised. The move would mean that there will be two back-back T20 WC events in 2020 (in Australia) and in 2021 (in India). According to Richardson, the T20 WC will continue to take place every two years after 2021 while the 50-over World Cup will take place every four years.
Citing the need for the change, Richardson said, "In the end, we are going to end up with 12 Test teams, 30-40 countries play ODI cricket and the rest all play T20 cricket. So I think the global events that take place should be reflective of that balance. Plus, of course, the 50-over World Cup will continue to be one of our huge events. We certainly don't want to take anything away from that event. The Champions Trophy was always too similar to the World Cup. The 13-team ODI league is a huge step in making sure that the ODIs have a lot more context."