Welcome

National Reference Centre (NRC)

Mieke Reyniers

National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO-NL)The Netherlands

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NRC: part of the plant health system in the Netherlands

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Importance of good infrastructure

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• Naktuinbouw: the Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture• BKD: the Flower Bulb Inspection Service• NAK: the Dutch General Inspection Service• KCB: the Quality Control Bureau

Plant health system in the Netherlands: government

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National Reference Centre (NRC)

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2500 fellow workers

Headquartered in Utrecht

Inspection offices throughout the country

Wageningen: regional office + laboratories

Independent agency in the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality

Delivery agency for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

Dutch-NPPO/NRC part of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA)

Meat supply chain and Food safety

Veterinary medicinalproducts

ExportImport

Product safety

Animal welfare

Hospitality industry and artisanal production

Alcohol andtobacco

Plant HealthNature

Fish, fish products and aquaculture

Animal testing

Crop protection Animal Health

Fertilizer

Animal feedEuropean subsidies Cross complianceGround-bound subsidies

Industrial productionAnimal by-productsMicrobioloy

NVWA covers 23 domains

Head

Mieke Reyniers

Plant DiseasesMaikel Aveskamp

- Bacteriology- Mycology- Virology

Plant PestsAnton van der Sommen

- Entomology- Nematology- Invasive plants- Centre for Monitoring vectors

Diagnostic methodsErik Souer

- Administration- Biosafety/-security- Molecular Biology- Greenhouses

National Reference Center – plant healthmore than a lab

Organization chart NRC

Head

Mieke Reyniers

Plant DiseasesMaikel Aveskamp

- Bacteriology- Mycology- Virology

Plant PestsAnton van der Sommen

- Entomology- Nematology- Invasive plants- Centre for Monitoring vectors

Diagnostic methodsErik Souer

- Administration- Biosafety/-security- Molecular Biology- Greenhouses

National Reference Center – plant healthmore than a lab

Tasks of the NRC

Knowledge

NRC has an independent, scientific based position within the NVWA

Contribution to science: diagnostic

methods, diagnostic protocols, taxonomy, biology and epidemiology

Supervision/contribution to research projects: eg H2020 (EU), EUPHRESCO (EPPO), PPS (Min. EZK)

Knowledge

Working on pest risk analysis, quickscans (EU, EPPO, EFSA)

Participation in International meetings

Maintenance of network (lab visits)

Methods

Method development:

1) Test Development literature, third parties, own research

2) (Lab-)ValidationRobust, specific, reliable

3) Implementation

Diagnosis

- Clients:- NVWA inspection- Agricultural Inspection Agencies

(reference samples)- Third parties

Mainly focus on quarantine-organisms

(risk-based)

Diagnosis

- Microscopy(Conventional, IF, EM)

- Biochemical tests (eg DAS-ELISA, MALDI-TOF)

- In planta(e.g. Koch’s Postulates, fysiodetermination)

- Molecular methods(eg RealTime PCR, Sangersequencing

new: High Throughput Sequencing)

Identification = Combination of at least two independent tests

Facilities

Quarantine building

Quarantine greenhouses

Outdoor fields (open and contained)

Diagnosis

Collections

- Collection ~ 230k specimens of plant pests and pathogens(Reference material)- Herbarium/ pinned insects /

microscopic slides- Living collection- On culture- Symptoms- Tissue and DNA

Education

- Training (inspectors of NVWA, inspectors

of Agricultural Inspection Agencies, EU, public networks, EUPHRESCO)

- Capacity building and Twinning (eg Turkey, Vietnam, Egypt, Kenya)

- Internships(applied-) universities, college

Advice

NVWA, Ministryeg Risk assessments, Legislation 3rd countries (export), elimination scenarios, …

InspectionSampling methods, risk-based inspection,…

EPPO, EU, IPPCDiagnostic protocols, Methodologies, …

Supervision

Labs of the Agricultural Inspection Agencies (NAK, Naktuinbouw, BKD, KCB)

- Training- Advice- Auditor: ISO 17025 Quality Management implementation

All labs working with Q-organisms- Auditor: 2008/61 Biosecurity implementation

Potential threats:

Signaling (literature/finding/third country)

Quick-scan

Pest Risk Analyses (PRA)

Risk Assessment

Quality Management System

- ISO17025 accredited

- Fixed scope (since 2014)Accreditation is limited to predefined host-matrix combinations

- Flexscope (since 2017)Extension of accreditation is possible for allhost-matrix combinations

www.rva.nl

Biosafety & Biosecurity

- InternalMake sure that organisms stay inside

- ExternalAdvise on working with Q-organisms under 2008/61 - labs of the Agricultural Inspection Agencies- other phytosanitairy labs,- breeding companies, - research institutes, - universities

Goals workshop:- expanding professional network- sharing knowledge via presentations and posters- identify shared research needs