Division 7 Quality control, storage of the isolates and confirmatory testing

The Member States shall ensure participation of the laboratories referred to in Article 3(2) to a quality assurance system including proficiency testing set up at either national or Union level, to target species identification, sub-typing and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the bacteria collected for the harmonised monitoring of AMR.

Resistant isolates shall be stored by the laboratories at a temperature of – 80 °C for a minimum period of five years. Other temperatures of storage may be used provided that they ensure viability and absence of changes in strain properties.

When deemed scientifically relevant by EFSA and the EURL for AMR, the laboratories referred to in Article 3(2) shall send for a confirmatory testing to the EURL for AMR any isolate tested in accordance with points 4, 5 and 6.