European legislation requires that testing laboratories gain accreditation to ISO-17025, an internationally-recognised Quality System. Furthermore, the European Commission has set out detailed technical criteria for the performance of analytical methods used in the analysis of veterinary drug residues & contaminants.
In addition to regular inspections by UKAS - the UK Accreditation Service schemes, international inspectors from the European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office, the United States Department of Agriculture, and European Union Community Reference Laboratories frequently audit the work of the Chemical Surveillance Branch. These audits ensure that work carried out by the Chemical Surveillance Branch is done to the highest international standards.
The Chemical Surveillance branch also checks its own work by participating in a wide range of Proficiency Testing Schemes, to “benchmark” its work against other leading laboratories across the world.
