The AAFCO Laboratory Methods and Services Committee deals with issues that affect feed laboratories. The Quality Assurance/Quality Control Working Group (QA/QC WG) is assigned to provide quality related guidance to feed laboratories and the government entities to which they provide analytical services.
AAFCO recommends that laboratories use these Guidelines to design and implement a Quality Management System (QMS) that meets the needs of their laboratory and regulatory program, including laboratories seeking third-party accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 for feed testing. Laboratories are encouraged to study the accreditation requirements contained in Volume I, the guidance contained in Volume II, and the example documents and forms contained in Volume III of these Guidelines to establish a quality system appropriate to their operations.
The guidance and examples offered in Volume II and Volume III represent one or more ways a laboratory may meet ISO/IEC 17025 requirements. There are certainly acceptable equivalent mechanisms a feed laboratory may utilize to meet the ISO/IEC 17025 “General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories” standard.
Introduction to FAQs
The AAFCO Laboratory Methods and Services Committee Quality Assurance/Quality Control Working Group (QA/QC WG) is available to clarify the Guidelines. Questions may be submitted to the QA/QC WG via the AAFCO Website general contact email address (aafco@aafco.org).
Questions and answers are posted here as FAQs as the information becomes available.
Will AAFCO and/or the FDA require accreditation of laboratories analyzing feed products, whether public or private, to the AAFCO 2014 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Guidelines for Feed Laboratories?
Will AAFCO develop a product certification trademark that would identify laboratories accredited to the 2014 AAFCO Quality Assurance/Quality Control Guidelines for Feed Laboratories?