11th Meeting of the EPPO Panel on Diagnostics and Quality Assurance

Teleconference 2021-03-09/12 and 2021/03/22 

 

 

The EPPO Panel on Diagnostics and Quality Assurance met by videoconference. The planned face-to-face meeting was cancelled as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. 28 experts participated including Panel members,  VALITEST partners and one expert from  ISTA.

 

Revision horizontal EPPO Diagnostic Standards

The Panel prepared the revision of 2 Diagnostic Standards.

 

PM 7/84 Basic requirements for quality management in plant pest diagnosis laboratories

At the last meeting of the Panel on Diagnostics and Quality Assurance, it was agreed to align the text of PM 7/84 with the changes made to PM 7/98(4) and approved in 2019. The revised version of PM 7/84 was sent for country consultation in March 2020. Comments received were reviewed. The Standard as revised will be presented to the Working Party on Phytosanitary Regulations in June 2021 together with the revision of PM 7/98.

 

PM 7/98 Specific requirements for laboratories preparing accreditation for a plant pest diagnostic activity

At the last meeting of the Panel on Diagnostics and Quality Assurance, a revision of the tables in Appendix 5 of PM 7/98 was undertaken with the goal to harmonize when possible the wording used for each method in the different disciplines. The revised appendix was sent for country consultation in March 2020. The Panel reviewed the comments received during country consultation. Based on the discussions, the EPPO Secretariat will revise the Appendix 5 of PM 7/98 and will align the text of PM 7/98 to the revised text of PM 7/84. PM 7/98 will be sent for country consultation together with PM 7/84.

 

New EPPO Diagnostic Standards discussed during the meeting

The Panel reviewed one new Diagnostic Standard.

 

Draft Standard on the production of reference material

Based on the outcomes of the work package 3 of the  VALITEST project, a draft Diagnostic Standard on the production of reference material was prepared by the EPPO Secretariat and two experts from NIB (SI) and WUR (NL) which are part of the  VALITEST consortium. The draft Standard was first reviewed by a drafting team composed of experts from AGES (AT), FERA (GB), JKI (DE) and from all the EURLs (including experts from ANSES (FR) and NRC-NPPO (NL)). The Panel further reviewed the document. Discussions focused on the scope of the Standard, on stability and on the planning of the production of biological reference material. The EPPO Secretariat will revise the document based on the discussions and send it for country consultation. If possible, the document will be presented to the Working Party in June 2021.

 

Future priorities for revision and future programme for Standards

 

PM 7/122 Guidelines for the organization of interlaboratory comparisons by plant pest diagnostic laboratories

The lessons learnt from  VALITEST work package 1 (WP1) regarding Test Performance Studies (TPS) organisation were presented by the work package leader from NIB (SI). The Panel discussed the outcomes of this project in the light of the revision of PM 7/122. The EPPO Secretariat will prepare a first draft of the revised Standard based on  VALITEST outcomes and comments received from the Panel. An expert working group composed of experts from NRC-NPPO (NL), ILVO (BE), CREA (IT), INIAV (PT), NIB (SI) and ANSES (FR) will be organised in autumn 2021 to start the work on the revision of the Standard.

 

PM 7/98 Specific requirements for laboratories preparing accreditation for a plant pest diagnostic activity

The outcomes of  VALITEST work package 2 (WP2) regarding the statistical analysis of validation data were presented by the work package leader from the University of Liege (BE). The Panel discussed the recommendations and tools proposed in the guidelines in particular the definition of outliers, the composition of the panel of samples and the management of inconclusive results. The Panel agreed to include some of those statistical tools in PM 7/98 and in PM 7/122. The drafting team that will work on the revision of PM 7/122 will also work on the inclusion of the statistical concepts recommended by  VALITEST WP2 in PM 7/122 and PM 7/98. The work will start in autumn 2021.

 

Draft Standard on the use and validation of High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) tests in Plant Health diagnostics

The outcomes of  VALITEST work package 2 (WP2) regarding use and validation of HTS in plant pest diagnostics were presented by the work package leader from the University of Liege (BE). The Panel discussed the guidelines and concluded that the structure of the document is appropriate to serve as a basis for an EPPO Standard on HTS. A drafting team composed of experts from FERA (GB), JKI (NL), INIAV (PT), U-Liege (BE), the Finnish Food Authority (FI) and NRC-NPPO (NL) was established. The work will start in autumn 2021.

 

Other topics

Preparation of a Plant Health case study to submit to the European co-operation for Accreditation association (EA) for the revision of document EA-4/18 Guidance on the level and frequency of proficiency testing participation

The outcomes of  VALITEST work package 5 (WP5) regarding the optimization of proficiency assessment were presented by the work package leader from ANSES (FR) including a Plant Health case study drafted by one expert from ANSES (FR) one expert from NRC-NPPO (NL) and the EPPO Secretariat, in relation to the document EA-4/18 INF2010 – Guidance on the level and frequency of proficiency testing participation. The Panel welcomed the drafting of such a document and agreed it would be useful for accredited laboratories from the EPPO region. The Panel agreed with the approach developed in the case study. As a consequence, the EPPO Secretariat will share it with EA and plan a meeting to discuss it.

 

Revision of the EPPO instructions to authors of diagnostic protocols

The Panel revised the EPPO instructions to authors of diagnostic protocols based on feedback received from specialized Panels on Diagnostics and on suggestions from the EPPO Secretariat.

 

Method validation process and tools of the Seed Health Committee ( SHC) of International Seed Testing Association ( ISTA)

One expert from ISTA presented the method validation process and tools of the SHC of ISTA.

 

Next Panel meeting

The next meeting of the Panel on Diagnostics and Quality Assurance will be held in early 2022.

 

Participants

The composition of the EPPO Panel on Diagnostics and Quality Assurance can be found on the EPPO website.