On September 29th, 2020, due to the uncertainty brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to cancel the plenary meeting scheduled in Colombia as bans on physical events were imposed by ISO/CS. The secretariat launched it online eventually.

It was a new way for all of us to work as a community, and it worked fairly well.

Thirteen P-member countries and two liaison organizations sent a total of 48 delegates to the virtual meeting: China(SAC), Colombia(ICONTEC), Ethiopia(ESA), France(AFNOR), Indonesia(BSN), Kenya(KEBS), Malaysia(DSM), Nepal(NBSM), Netherlands(NEN), Nigeria(SON), Philippines(BPS), Russian Federation(GOST R) and Uganda(UNBS); ISO/TC 6 Paper, board and pulps and the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR).

Committee manager Dr. FANG Changhua made a report on the annual work of the secretariat, which achieved much progress in supporting our committee and kept all projects on the right track during the past year.

It was also a pleasure to have our TPM Dr. Anna Rossi at the virtual meeting who introduced in her presentation the changes of ISO Directives, temporary measures to cope with the pandemic and the new IT tool that is due to replace eCommittee. Four WG convenors each made a report on their work in the past year. Three NWIPs were presented by SAC and inspired many questions and discussions. Despite the limit of time and means, delegates still showed strong support to the committee as always.

By the end of the meeting, ten resolutions were adopted unanimously. The dedication and contribution of our expert community are immensely appreciated and we sincerely wish that we can meet each other in person again soon.