Australian National Quality Assurance Program

The Australian National Quality Assurance Program was originally instigated by the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management (SCARM) Animal Health Committee in 1990. The program is coordinated by the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR), Victoria on behalf of the Sub-Committee of Animal Health L... aboratory Standards ( SCAHLS). The initial aim of the program was to standardise veterinary testing in government laboratories in Australia and New Zealand. This aim is still applicable today but the program has expanded and established itself both nationally and internationally as an external proficiency testing provider. ANQAP focuses on assays used in quarantine, export certification and national disease control programs. The ANQAP proficiency testing program uses inter-laboratory comparison for determining the performance of individual laboratories for specific tests. The program staff prepare a range of proficiency panels for veterinary virology, veterinary serology, veterinary bacteriology and aquatic PCR samples. ANQAP does not prescribe the test method to be followed with the participating laboratories able to select their method of choice. Australian and New Zealand laboratories generally follow the Australian and New Zealand Standard Diagnostic Procedure where available. Participation in proficiency testing is an important component of laboratory quality assurance and provides an objective means of assessing and demonstrating the reliability of results produced. Proficiency testing supplements the laboratory internal quality control procedures by adding an external evaluation of their testing capabilities. ANQAP recommends participating laboratories have quality systems in place, and export / import laboratories in Australia and New Zealand are required by AQIS to be accredited with NATA to the standard ISO/IEC 17025. In 2010, ANQAP expanded to include six tests for aquatic diseases. This program has been running since 2010 in conjunction with the ...Read More