Bassersdorf, Switzerland
March 23, 2020
 

Dear ISTA Family,

First of all, I hope you and your families are doing well and are not affected by COVID-19.

During last days the Swiss Government called State of Emergency with several restrictions. This made me call Phase III of the ISTA Pandemic Plan and to close the Secretariat until minimum and including April 19. Further all travel on an ISTA mission are stopped until and including May 15. This includes the performance of Audits and Workshops as well.

The Staff at the ISTA Secretariat is doing well and we are all performing our daily tasks. This not in the office, as the Secretariat is closed for the moment, but from home office. The change to O365 is helping us and we are in daily contact via Teams and a Secretariat Meeting every morning.

For you this means, that we kindly ask you to contact the ISTA Secretariat only by E-mail (including invoices).

The last orders of ISTA OICs and BICs were shipped last week. Thank you that you followed our request a few weeks ago to stock-up for the case of closure. There was also a shipment of PT replacement specimens done last week. Nevertheless, no shipments of any kind will be performed during the closure of the Secretariat anymore.

I am very sorry, that the ISTA Annual Meeting in Verona needed to be cancelled due to the current situation. The Secretariat is working hard on a virtual solution to discuss the changes of the ISTA Rules and allow Designated Members to hold a virtual Ordinary General Meeting (OGM). The date of the OGM will stay the same as it was scheduled for Verona (Thursday May 28). Designated Members will receive more information as they become available.

In the moment it is impossible to tell, how long the measures will stay in place, but we will keep you updated.

We wish you, your families and colleagues all the best in these difficult times.

Best regards,
Dr. Andreas Wais
ISTA Secretary General

Website: http://www.seedtest.org

Published: March 23, 2020