Quality assurance, validation of tests and collections in plant pest diagnostics: approaches and experience in the EPPO region
Francoise Petter: European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization
<div>EPPO is an intergovernmental organization responsible for European cooperation in plant health. The EPPO diagnostic programme started in 1998 with the preparation of pest specific diagnostic protocols. Development of quality management systems and accreditation quickly became a concern for many laboratories in the EPPO region. EPPO Standards have been approved on quality assurance providing specific guidance for plant pest diagnostics (how to perform the validation of tests, how to organize interlaboratory comparisons...). Standards are regularly revised to update them with most recently developed approaches in accreditation and validation. Laboratories in the EPPO region are increasingly working under quality assurance systems and the need for laboratories to have access to well characterised biological reference material for morphological identification and for the use, development and validation of tests has been recognized. EPPO participated in an EU FP7 project on collections (Q-collect) which resulted in the development of a white paper on collections. Finally, to increase active collaboration among the Organizations involved in plant health research activities at national and regional levels, Euphresco (European Phytosanitary Research Coordination) was established to favour synergies among national research activities and to support plant health policy. Euphresco members identify research priorities to be tackled through transnational collaboration. Many research projects have been funded including projects to develop new tests, validate these tests or evaluate the proficiency of laboratories. These approaches and the experiences in the EPPO region will be presented.</div>
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