The function and duties of the Community reference laboratory shall be:

1. 1.

   to coordinate, in consultation with the Commission, the methods employed in Member States for diagnosing diseases of bivalve molluscs, specifically by:

   1. (a)

      building up and retaining a collection of histological slides, strains or isolates of the relevant pathogens and making these available to approved laboratories in the Member States;

   2. (b)

      organizing periodic comparative tests of diagnostic procedures at Community level;

   3. (c)

      collecting and collating data and information on the methods of diagnosis used and the results of tests carried out in the Community;

   4. (d)

      characterizing isolates of pathogens by the most up-to-date and appropriate methods to allow greater understanding of the epizootiology of the disease;

   5. (e)

      keeping abreast of developments in the surveillance, epizootiology and prevention of the relevant diseases throughout the world;

   6. (f)

      retaining expertise on relevant disease pathogens to enable rapid differential diagnosis;

2. 2.

   to assist actively in the diagnosis of disease outbreaks in Member States by receiving pathogen isolates for confirmatory diagnosis, characterization and epizootic studies;

3. 3.

   to facilitate the training or retraining of experts in laboratory diagnosis with a view to the harmonization of diagnostic techniques throughout the Community;

4. 4.

   to collaborate as regards methods of diagnosing exotic diseases, with the competent laboratories in third countries where those diseases are prevalent.