The EURL-AP Annual Workshop took place in Vienna (Austria) on the 6 and 7 April this year. This year the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) network had important discussions on the revision of the official microscopic method. A validation study of a proposed revised method was organized in Autumn 2010. Results from this validation study were presented : improvement of the proficiency was noted thus validating the main modifications. A consensus on a revised protocol was obtained and transmitted on the week after to the DG Sanco. In addition, results of experiments on alternative methods – mainly RT-PCR- were presented too. The outcome of the EUR-AP Interlaboratory Study 2011 was presented. During the workshop a first return on the PCR training session organized by the EURL-AP team revealed to be very positive. Other complementary training will be organized in the next coming month, keeping in mind the strong wish to have as soon as possible an implementation of the PCR methods through the NRL network. On this condition the future revision of the total feed ban could be monitored by the NRLs inside the EU. In this respect the DG Sanco also presented to the NRLs the expectations around the TSE Roadmap II and the conditions prevailing for a species-to-species feed while allowing a safe control on the TSEs. Finally, future perspectives on combinations of methods were presented to the delegations of the Member States. All workshop sessions were animated by a strong scientific mind as well as a truly friendly atmosphere among all participants.

The 3rd CRL-AP annual workshop was once again a good opportunity to highlight the importance of communication as a key of improvement of the dissemination of information within the NRL network.

The 3rd CRL-AP annual workshop was once again a good opportunity to highlight the importance of communication as a key of improvement of the dissemination of information within the NRL network. During the last two years the CRL-AP and the NRLs have worked together in order to improve the network performances. The good results obtained for the last interlaboratory study (proficiency test 2008) show its high level quality. During the workshop, alternative methods were also presented by CRAW searchers. These methods could be used for the CRL-AP future purposes; hydrolised proteins by HPLC and by electrophoresis and the Reveal kit for ruminant immunoassay. The main communication tool is the CRL-AP intranet platform as it contains all NRL’s profiles, the micrographs collection and all useful documents in matter of research. A request for more training sessions has been made by some NRLs. Indeed these reveal to be necessary for keeping up the level of knowledge. The CRL-AP encourages the NRLs representatives to transmit all pertinent information in order to reinforce the network.

Last December 2008, 9 days of training courses on microscopy were planned in the CRL-AP facilities for NRLs members from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Germany, Austria, Ireland, France and Luxembourg.

Last December 2008, 9 days of training courses on microscopy were planned in the CRL-AP facilities for NRLs members from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Germany, Austria, Ireland, France and Luxembourg.

The samples for the CRL-AP Proficiency Test 2008 have been sent on 27 October 2008 to all NRLs. Results have been collected. This year once again some guest countries were participating: Canada, Croatia, Serbia and Russia.

The CRL-AP coordination team is pleased to announce you that the 3rd CRL-AP workshop will take place on 11 and 12 March 2009 in Gembloux, Belgium.

The second international conference FEEDSAFETY 2007, hosted by CRA-W in cooperation with Agrobiopôle wallon asbl, will be held in Namur on 27th and 28th November 2007 and will offer a review of the latest legislative, scientific and industrial progress in animal feed chain safety.

The second international conference FEEDSAFETY 2007, hosted by CRA-W in cooperation with Agrobiopôle wallon asbl, will be held in Namur on 27th and 28th November 2007 and will offer a review of the latest legislative, scientific and industrial progress in animal feed chain safety.