LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee launched the search Friday to find a host for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The winning city will be chosen on July 6, 2011, by IOC members meeting in Durban, South Africa, according to a timetable published by the IOC on Friday.

Potential candidates include Annecy, France; Munich, Germany; and Pyeongchang, South Korea, which is entering for a third straight time.

The Korean Olympic committee agreed in April to back Pyeongchang's latest attempt after it lost out to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the 2010 games and to Sochi, Russia in 2014.

France's Olympic committee voted in March to propose Annecy ahead of rival offers from Grenoble, Nice and Pelvoux.

Munich is aiming to become the first city to stage a Summer and Winter Games, after hosting the 1972 Olympics.

Its board of trustees steering the bid includes two-time Olympic figure skating champion Katarina Witt and soccer star Franz Beckenbauer, who helped bring the 2006 World Cup to Germany.

The IOC said Friday that national Olympic bodies must formally propose their candidate by Oct. 15.

Bid teams must attend the Vancouver games next February as observers, then formally apply two weeks later.

The IOC executive board will accept the official candidates and publish a short list in June 2010 to begin a second phase of the process.

Cities must then submit a candidate file to IOC headquarters in Lausanne by Jan. 11, 2011.

An evaluation team will visit the cities in the following weeks, and produce a report for IOC members one month before the election.