Proposals for revisions to the Standard for Seed Potatoes

Summary
At its 2022 session, the Specialized Section decided to undertake a full review of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Standard S-1 concerning the marketing and commercial quality control of seed potatoes. During 2022, the rapporteur’s group (consisting of Finland (rapporteur), France, Germany, the Netherlands (Kingdom of the), Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, Australian Seed Potato Industry Certification Authority, Euroseeds, and Potato Certification Service (South Africa)) met in four half-day online meetings, with its initial proposed changes tabled for discussion at the 2023 meeting of the Specialized Section.
Over the course of 2023, the rapporteur’s group has continued its work to review the Standard and has met in three half-day online meetings, facilitated by the secretariat, the last of which was held on 13 December 2023. The proposed revisions were also discussed at the rapporteur’s meeting in Brest, France, in October 2023.
This document contains the proposed revisions to the UNECE Standard for Seed Potatoes as per the status of discussions in the rapporteur’s group on 13 December 2023. Text that is under discussion is shown in square brackets and underlined. To facilitate the review, document ECE/CTCS/WP.7/GE.6/2024/INF.2 provides a comparison of this proposed revised text with the existing (2021) version of the Standard.
The Specialized Section is invited to review the proposed changes and provide additional suggestions to the rapporteur’s group.