Reference activities
The Ministry of Rural Affairs has authorised the National Centre for Laboratory Research and Risk Assessment (LABRIS) (Veterinary and Food Laboratory until 31 December 2022) to act as a reference laboratory in 30 areas related to food and feed safety and animal health.
The areas of activity of a national reference laboratory, the content of its activities and the obligation to designate it proceeds from Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017. The member states of the European Union are required to designate a national reference laboratory for each European Union reference laboratory specified in the regulation.
The main purpose of the activity of the national reference laboratories is to ensure the reliability and comparability of the test results provided by the official laboratories in the area of activity both on a national and international level.
National reference laboratory
- collaborates with the European Union reference laboratory of the same area, and participates in training courses and in inter-laboratory comparative tests organised by this laboratory;
- where appropriate, organises inter-laboratory comparative testing or proficiency tests between official laboratories, ensures an appropriate follow-up of such tests;
- advises competent authorities and collaborates in preparing supervision and monitoring plans;
- ensures the dissemination to the competent authorities and official laboratories of information that the European Union reference laboratory supplies;
- actively assists the state in the diagnosis of the outbreaks of food-borne, zoonotic or animal diseases by carrying out confirmatory diagnoses, characterisation and epizootic or taxonomic studies on pathogen isolates.
The list of national reference laboratories is available on the website of the Ministry of Rural Affairs.
Official laboratory
An official laboratory analyses samples taken in the course of official controls or other official activities. The authorisation required for performing analyses in a specific area is provided by the Agriculture and Food Board.
The list of official laboratories is available on the website of the Agriculture and Food Board.
