# Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, amending Regulations (EC) No 999/2001, (EC) No 396/2005, (EC) No 1069/2009, (EC) No 1107/2009, (EU) No 1151/2012, (EU) No 652/2014, (EU) 2016/429 and (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (EC) No 1/2005 and (EC) No 1099/2009 and Council Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/119/EC and 2008/120/EC, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 89/608/EEC, 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 96/23/EC, 96/93/EC and 97/78/EC and Council Decision 92/438/EEC (Official Controls Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance), Article 34: Methods used for sampling, analyses, tests and diagnoses

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

1. Methods used for sampling and for analyses, tests and diagnoses must comply with legislation in force in the relevant constituent territory of Great Britain establishing those methods or the performance criteria for those methods where this is done during official controls and other official activities and carried out at—
(a) an appropriate place, including those listed in Article 44(3), by an official plant health officer designated in accordance with Article 37(1); or
(b) an official laboratory.
2. In the absence of ... rules as referred to in paragraph 1, and in the context of official controls and other official activities, official laboratories shall use one of the following methods according to the suitability for their specific analytical, testing and diagnostic needs:
(a) available methods complying with relevant internationally recognised rules or protocols ...; or
relevant methods developed or recommended by the European Union or British reference laboratories and validated in accordance with internationally accepted scientific protocols;
(b) in the absence of the suitable rules or protocols, as referred to in point (a), methods which comply with relevant rules established in the relevant constituent territory of Great Britain, or, if no such rules exist, relevant methods developed or recommended by national reference laboratories and validated in accordance with internationally accepted scientific protocols; or
relevant methods developed and validated with inter or intra-laboratory methods validation studies in accordance with internationally accepted scientific protocols.
3. Where analyses, tests or diagnoses are urgently needed and none of the methods referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article exists, other methods may be used until the validation of an appropriate method in accordance with internationally accepted scientific protocols by—
a) the relevant national reference laboratory; or
b) any other official laboratory or, as relevant, official plant health officer, designated in accordance with Article 37(1).
4. Wherever possible, methods used for ... analyses shall be characterised by the relevant criteria set out in Annex III.
5. Samples shall be taken, handled and labelled in such a way as to ensure their legal, scientific and technical validity.
6. The appropriate authority may make regulations laying down rules on:
(a) the methods to be used for sampling and for ... analyses, tests and diagnoses;
(b) performance criteria, analysis, test or diagnosis parameters, measurement uncertainty and procedures for the validation of those methods;
(c) the interpretation of analytical, testing and diagnostic results.
...

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2017/625/article/34 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2017-625/article-34
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.