"THE C.O.M. NEWS", MARCH 2006 nr. 115

ANNEX nr. 10

Mr. General President of C.O.M.,
Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

Just like last year, the President in his address has already given general information on the activities of O.M.J.
I shall, therefore, confine my remarks to my own work.

Administration of O.M.J. judges
All the lists, with full details, are complete and available to the C.O.M. Board of Directors and ready to be posted on the Internet.
This year again, each member country will receive a list of its O.M.J. judges, to check it and make any eventual amendment, having to return it to the O.M.J. Secretary by 1st May latest. The total number of judges therein enrolled will determine the level of O.M.J. subscriptions/rates for 2006, and these will then immediately fall due.

Examinations of O.M.J. judge candidates
In 2005, a total of 49 candidates sat at the examinations in Cavaillon (France), Ypres (Belgium), Cesena (Italy), and in Puerto Rico for the Southern Hemisphere. I should like to thank the national organisers for ensuring that everything ran smoothly. The results of the examinations will be announced today.
Because of circumstances beyond our control – bird flu – it was not possible to hold examinations in other venues.

International Shows
In 2005, only 6 of the 18 international shows due to have been run under C.O.M. patronage actually took place. Unfortunately, the bird flu caused the imposition of show restrictions.
This was catastrophic for our hobby. Nonetheless, we must remain confident about the future, even though we cannot know what the future will bring.

Following these typical notes from the O.M.J. Secretariat, I’d like to give you some information on the situation regarding “Standard” manuals:
- The “Standard” for Coloured Canaries has been updated, reprinted and sent out to all C.O.M. national entities.
- The manual in French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese of Rules for Judging Hybrids has been completed, printed and sent out to all C.O.M. national entities. It will soon be available in English, German and Dutch.
- The “Standard” for European Fauna (native birds) is ready and being printed now in French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and will be sent to all member countries within some days. In the course of this year, it will also be available in other languages.

The purpose of these “Standards” is to ensure that birds are judged and evaluated in the same way by all judges throughout the world, so as to provide a fair judgement.
These “Standards” will be updated on a regular basis.
I thank everyone who has been involved in all this work.

Before I finish, I should like to thank the C.O.M. General President, the O.M.J. President, the C.O.M.-B.D. members and my O.M.J.-E.C. colleagues for all their positive help over the past year.
I should also like to thank the C.O.M. member countries and the O.M.J. judges for their understanding and co-operation.

I cordially thank you for your attention.

Alessandro Paparella
O.M.J. Secretary