European customs laboratories participate therefore in Proficiency Testing Schemes to assess their own performances and efficiency, as well as to confirm that the results they obtain are similar to those of other laboratories. Participation is also essential to achieve accreditation, which is a guarantee of quality for laboratories. For instance, laboratories may be accredited according to ISO 17025, which is an international standard guaranteeing laboratories’ competence of testing.
The design of each Proficiency Testing Scheme depends on its purpose, i.e. whether the aim is:
- to carry out collaborative trials for the validation of a specific method,
- to carry out a comparison of different methods or analytical protocols used to measure the same parameter,
- to assess laboratories’ performance.
Preparation of the studies and their results are discussed in meetings of the ad-hoc working group of volunteer participants for each study.
Proficiency tests and ring tests organised within the CLEN usually:
- gather between 10 and 50 participating laboratories,
- deal with 2 to 10 samples, and
- are carried out on 1 to 20 different parameters for each sample.
Here are a few examples of tests that have been organized over the past few years:
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Ring test on ceramics and pottery |
Proficiency test related to Meursing table |
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Ring test on milk products |
Proficiency test on mineral oils |
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Ring test on nuts and seeds |
Proficiency test on pet-food |
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Proficiency test on rice |
Inter-laboratory test on BPE Euromarker |
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Proficiency test on spirits, alcoholic beverages and alcohol-based preparations |
Proficiency test on sugars and sugar containing products |
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Proficiency test on Textiles |
Proficiency test on Tobacco |
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Ring Test on Cannabinoids |
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