Chapter I Conditions for the approval of embryo collection and embryo production teamsF1

In order to be given approval each embryo collection team must fulfil the following requirements:

1. (a)

   the collection, processing and storage of embryos must be carried out either by a team veterinarian or under his responsibility by one or more technicians who are competent and trained by the team veterinarian in methods and techniques of hygiene;

2. (b)

   it must be placed under the general supervision and authority of the official veterinarian;

3. (c)

   it must have at its disposal permanent or mobile laboratory facilities where embryos can be examined, processed and packed, consisting of at least a work surface, a microscope and cryogenic equipment;

4. (d)

   in the case of a permanently sited laboratory, it must have at its disposal:

   • a room where embryos can be manipulated which is adjacent to but physically separate from the area used to handle the donor animals during collection,

   • a room or area equipped for cleansing and sterilizing instruments and equipment used in embryo collection and manipulation,

   • F2where micromanipulation of the embryo which involves penetration of the zona pellucida is to be carried out, this shall be done in suitable laminar-flow facilities which shall be properly cleaned and disinfected between batches;

5. (e)

   it must have at its disposal in the case of a mobile laboratory a specially equipped part of the vehicle consisting of two separate sections,

   • one for the examination and manipulation of embryos which shall be a clean section, and

   • the other for accommodating equipment and materials used in contact with the donor animals.

   A mobile laboratory shall always have contact with a permanently sited laboratory to ensure the sterilization of its equipment and the provision of fluids and other products necessary for the collection and manipulation of embryos.

Furthermore, to be approved as a team for the production and processing of embryos derived by in vitro fertilization and/or in vitro culture, an embryo production team must fulfil the following additional requirements:

1. (f)

   the personnel must be trained in appropriate disease control and laboratory techniques, particularly in procedures for working in sterile conditions;

2. (g)

   it must have at its disposal a permanently-sited processing laboratory which must:

   • have adequate equipment and facilities, including a separate room for recovering oocytes from ovaries, and separate rooms or areas for processing oocytes and embryos, and storing embryos,

   • have laminar-flow facilities under which all oocytes, semen and embryos must be processed; however, the centrifugation of semen may be carried out outside the laminar-flow facility, as long as full hygienic precautions are taken;

3. (h)

   where oocytes and other tissues are to be collected in an abattoir, it must have at its disposal suitable equipment for the collection and transport of the ovaries and other tissues to the processing laboratory in a hygienic and safe manner.