News

   The fifty-fourth session of the TWA was held in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, from May 19 to 22, 2025. The session was opened by Mr. Ľubomír Bašta (Slovakia), Chairperson of the TWA. Participants were welcomed by Mr. Stephen Nindi, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture of Tanzania. A presentation on DUS testing procedures in the United Republic of Tanzania was delivered by Ms. Dorah Herman Bivugile, Head of the DUS Section at the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI).

   The TWA agreed to revisions of documents TGP/5 and TGP/7 concerning the formulation of technical examination reports and variety descriptions, as well as clarification of requirements for example varieties – particularly for characteristics marked with an asterisk (*) that are important for international harmonization.

   Drafts of new or revised Test Guidelines were reviewed for the following crops: *Bent Grass (Agrostis canina L., Agrostis gigantea Roth, Agrostis stolonifera L., Agrostis capillaris L.), *Festulolium (×Festulolium Asch. et Graebn.), *Fodder Beet (Beta vulgaris Fodder Beet Group), *Grain Amaranth (Amaranthus L.), *Mung Bean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek), *Sugarcane (Saccharum L.), *Maize (Zea mays L.), and *Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.).

   Numerous technical modifications were approved during the session, including changes to characteristics, example varieties, developmental stages, shape and color descriptions. Some Test Guidelines, such as those for Bent Grass and Festulolium, were recommended for adoption by the Technical Committee in autumn 2025.

   As part of the session, participants visited the Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI). They were introduced to the institute’s experience in breeding new coffee varieties, propagation methods, and management of variety collections.

   The next session of the TWA is scheduled for June 2026 and will be held in a virtual format. Topics planned for discussion include image analysis, new technologies in DUS testing, the COYU-Splines method, and further exploration of confidentiality policies.

   Participants from the Ukrainian Institute for Plant Variety Examination (remote): Marina Tagantsova, Olena Svynarchuk, Svitlana Vaskivska, Svitlana Likar, Nataliya Kostenko, Nadiia Lynchak.