Development of a standard for the organization of the interlaboratory comparisons in microbiology of food

The ILAC G13 Guide and the ISO IEC Guide 43-1 are the common, general and horizontal bases for accreditation of providers of proficiency testing and interlaboratory comparisons used by several accreditation bodies. Despite their widespread use, these guides omit specific technical requirements, and sometimes even elements of quality management, clearly defined for the organization of proficiency-testing schemes for microbiology of food. The Sub-Committee 9 “Microbiology of food” of ISO TC34 has created a working group (WG4) to establish a standard detailing such specific requirements for microbiology of food. This technical standard will describe those specific requirements of proficiency testing which organizers of proficiency-testing schemes and any subcontractors must satisfy in addition to the requirements of the ILAC G13 Guide and the ISO IEC Guide 43-1 to achieve accreditation or other recognition.