Council Directive 2003/85/ECShow full title

Article 68 U.K. National Laboratories

1. Member States shall ensure that:

(a) laboratory testing for foot-and-mouth disease is carried out in laboratories authorised for such testing by the competent authorities;

(b) laboratory testing to confirm the presence of foot-and-mouth disease virus or other vesicular disease viruses is carried out in accordance with Article 71 by one of the laboratories listed in Part A of Annex XI;

(c) one of the laboratories listed in Part A of Annex XI shall be designated as the national reference laboratory for the Member State on whose territory it is situated, and it shall be responsible for coordinating standards and methods of diagnosis in that Member State;

(d) the national reference laboratory carries out at least the functions and duties set out in Annex XV;

(e) the national reference laboratory referred to in point (c) liases with the Community Reference Laboratory provided for in Article 69 and in particular ensures the sending of appropriate samples to the Community Reference Laboratory.

2. The national reference laboratory referred to in paragraph 1(c) of one Member State may provide the services of a national reference laboratory to one or more other Member States. Member States which have no national reference laboratory situated on their territory may use the services of the national reference laboratory in one or more other Member States.

That cooperation shall be formalised in a mutual agreement between the competent authorities of the Member States concerned, which shall be notified to the Commission. Such cooperation shall be listed in the special column in the table in Part A of Annex XI.

3. Member States shall ensure that laboratory investigations provided for in this Directive are first of all carried out to confirm or rule out foot-and-mouth disease and to exclude other vesicular diseases.

Where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed and the serotype of the virus was identified, that virus shall be antigenically characterised in relation to the reference vaccine strains, where necessary with the assistance of the Community Reference Laboratory.

Samples from domestic livestock showing signs of vesicular disease which are negative for foot-and-mouth disease virus and, where relevant, Swine Vesicular Disease virus shall be sent to the Community Reference Laboratory for further investigation.

4. Member States shall ensure that the national reference laboratory on their territory is adequately equipped and staffed with the appropriate numbers of trained personnel to carry out the laboratory investigations required in accordance with this Directive.