The Technical Working Group (TWG) on Paddy Transplanters of the Asian and Pacific Network for Testing of Agricultural Machinery (ANTAM) met on 9 and 29 November 2022 to discuss the amendments, edits and updates to the Standard Code for Testing of Paddy Transplanters (003-2018) as proposed by representatives of ANTAM participating countries.

Due to the challenges faced by some participating countries in submitting formal nominations amid the pandemic outbreak, the TWG held two informal meetings in 2020 and 2021 for an initial review of the proposed amendments. In the first half of 2022, fifteen ESCAP member States participating in the initiative nominated nineteen technical experts to contribute to the work of the TWG. The experts elected as their Co-Chairs Dr Anwar Hossen from Bangladesh and Dr Joko Pitoyo from Indonesia. With the support of Mr. Sandro Liberatori, representing the ANTAM Technical Reference Unit, and of CSAM in its role as ANTAM Secretariat, the TWG completed the revision of the proposed updates for the Code, which will be presented to the 9th ANTAM Annual Meeting for endorsement. The TWG will convene again on 12 December 2022 to review the list of instruments and equipment required for conducting the ANTAM testing, which will also be consolidated with the inputs of other TWGs for presentation to the Annual Meeting.