Specific requirements for laboratories preparing accreditation for a plant pest diagnostic activity

摘要

Development of quality management systems (also referred to as management systems or quality systems) and accreditation have become a concern for many laboratories in the EPPO region. A Standard PM 7/84 Basic requirements for quality management in plant pest diagnosis laboratories was adopted in 2007. PM 7/84 describes basic requirements to assist laboratories conducting plant pest diagnosis in designing their management system for quality. This new Standard includes additional requirements for laboratories applying for accreditation. It is based on the ISO/EEC Standard 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories (ISO/IEC, 2005) and should be used together with PM 7/84. Laboratories usually apply for accreditation only for the most relevant pests, and not for all pests on which they are likely to perform a diagnosis.