Division 1.3 Nucleic acid detection methods

The standards for the detection of foot-and-mouth disease viral RNA shall be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 89(2) after consultation of the Community Reference Laboratory.

The Commission may arrange that for future standardisation, comparative testing of the sensitivity of RNA detection methods is carried out between National Laboratories.

The Commission may arrange that, taking into account the practical difficulties of storing nucleic acids for prolonged periods of time, standardised quality assurance reagents for the detection of foot-and-mouth viral RNA will become available from the Community Reference Laboratory.