Concerning: PFP Laboratory Task Group Food/Feed Testing Laboratories Best Practices Manual

Whereas, the AFDO Laboratories Managers Steering Committee was established through a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Cooperative Agreement with the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), Association of Food & Drug Officials (AFDO) and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which is intended to promote Laboratory Accreditation to ISO 17025 Standards. The Laboratory Managers Steering Committee provides leadership for facilitating state food and feed laboratory accreditation and integration with state and federal food safety surveillance, compliance, and enforcement programs.

Whereas, The Partnership for Food Protection (PFP) was established by the FDA, as a group of officials representing federal, state, local, and tribal governments to build the foundation of the integrated food/feed safety system in the United States, and

Whereas, The PFP established the Laboratory Task Group (LTG), led by FDA and state laboratory professionals and comprised of members from multiple federal, state, and local agencies to document best practices and procedures for food/feed laboratories to support confidence in the integrity and scientific validity of laboratory analytical data and facilitate the acceptance of laboratory analytical data by regulatory agencies, and

Whereas, the LTG developed the Food/Feed Testing Laboratories, Best Practices Manual (Draft), published by the PFP in November 2013, which is a set of tools, definitions, and references, that laboratories can use to improve their operations, and

Whereas, LTG included members of the AFDO Laboratory Managers Steering Committee and Steering Committee has reviewed and endorsed the use of the manual by food/feed laboratories to support confidence in the integrity and scientific validity of laboratory analytical data and facilitate the acceptance of laboratory analytical data by regulatory agencies, therefore be it

Resolved, that the AFDO Laboratory Managers Steering Committee, recommends that AFDO endorse the use of the Best Practices Manual to support confidence in the integrity and scientific validity of laboratory analytical data and facilitate the acceptance of laboratory analytical data by regulatory agencies.