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The laboratory of the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (CAFIA) in Prague completed successfully a re-accreditation audit carried out by the Czech Accreditation Institute (CIA) and after the laboratory in Brno, became another holder of the ČSN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018 certificate in the CR. Both laboratories achieved the certificates among the firsts in the CR.

The certificate is an essential requirement to regard the performance of the laboratory in question as an official result of an official inspection with a guarantee that analytical procedures are correct and the ISO standards are met – the document provides for general requirements for competence, impartiality and consistency of laboratory activities.

Compared to the original standard 2005, ISO 17025/2018 introduces requirements for more comprehensive risk management, provides for more specific sampling procedures and follow-ups to single processes, makes the work with documents and responsibility for organisation more systematic, etc. Within the 3 years’ transition period, all accredited laboratories will have to achieve this certificate.

Within the re-accreditation audit, the management system of the laboratory was assessed not only from the view of new requirements but also extended its scope of testing methods. In particular the method for proving presence of mustard and adulteration of triticum durum (semolina), further standardized methods for determination of the value of so-called total sugar in spirit drinks and detection of staphylococcal enterotoxins in foodstuffs are concerned. The laboratory also extended the current scope of methods for monitored pesticides and tropan alcaloids.

In a long-time horizon, the CAFIA laboratory in Prague focuses on detection of pesticides, mycotoxins and other plant toxins in foodstuffs as well as unauthorised medicaments in food supplements, food allergens and nutrients including vitamins. The laboratory also deals with proving adulteration of fruit and vegetable products, fats and oils, coffee, cocoa and further food products.

In its press release of 27^th September 2018, CAFIA informed of the re-accreditation audit of the CAFIA laboratory in Brno.

Article by: Pavel Kopřiva – CAFIA Spokesperson, tel.: +420 542 426 633

2^nd November 2018