# Commission Decision of 12 August 2002 implementing Council Directive 96/23/EC concerning the performance of analytical methods and the interpretation of results (notified under document number C(2002) 3044) (Text with EEA relevance) (2002/657/EC), Article 6: Interpretation of results

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

1. The result of an analysis shall be considered non-compliant if the decision limit of the confirmatory method for the analyte is exceeded.
2. If a permitted limit has been established for a substance, the decision limit is the concentration above which it can be decided with a statistical certainty of 1 - ɑ that the permitted limit has been truly exceeded.
3. If no permitted limit has been established for a substance, the decision limit is the lowest concentration level at which a method can discriminate with a statistical certainty of 1 - ɑ that the particular analyte is present.
4. For substances listed in Group A of Annex I to Directive 96/23/EC, the ɑ error shall be 1 % or lower. For all other substances, the ɑ error shall be 5 % or lower.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2002/657/article/6 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2002-657/article-6
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.