Bertrand LOMBARD participated virtually (teleconference) to a part of the last meeting of the Working Group 3 on method validation of the subcommitte ISO/TC 34/SC 9 “Food products-Microbiology”.

It took place on 4-6 December 2018 at Sciensano (BE-NRL for Listeria monocytogenes & coagulase positive staphylococci, Brussels).

WG 3 is in charge of developing the series EN ISO 16140 on method validation/verification in food chain microbiology.

This meeting was mainly dedicated to the preparation of the final vote, further to the ISO/DIS vote and CEN Enquiry, on the 4 following parts:

• Part 3: method verification;
• Part 4: method validation in a single laboratory;
• Part 5: factorial interlaboratory validation for non-proprietary methods;
• Part 6: validation of alternative (proprietary) methods for microbiological confirmation and typing procedures.

The final votes are expected to be launched by mid-2019. B. Lombard ensured a liaison with WG 2 which provides a statistical expertise to prepare these standards.