National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) are part of the system responsible for controlling and enforcing the EU food and feed law. Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR) has been designated the NRL for thirteen subjects. The tasks of an NRL depend on its research fields. This report gives an overview of the activities performed by all of WFSR’s NRLs in 2021. These NRLs are for: milk and milk products, marine biotoxins,animal proteins, certain substances and residues thereof as laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/625, additives for use in animal nutrition (feed additives), genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed,pesticides, metals and nitrogenous substances in feed and food, mycotoxins and plant toxins in food and feed, processing contaminants halogenated persistent organic pollutants in food and feed, food-borne viruses and water content of poultry.This report first gives an overview of relevant legislation and information on the networks of EURLs, NRLsand OLs. For every NRL, a description of all activities performed in the EURL-NRL network, such as participation in EURL-NRL workshops, working groups, and proficiency and comparative tests. This is followed by a description of the assistance provided to OLs, such as a quality check or advice. Finally, the scientific and technical support given to the competent authority is discussed. In some cases, contact with other NRLs is discussed. An important NRL task is to stay updated with current developments within its NRL domain. Every EURL organises one or two meetings (workshops) every year for that purpose. Participation in these EURL-NRL workshops is mandatory. In 2021, because of COVID-19, the workshops were almost all held online. NRLs of WFSR have attended all workshops and actively participated in EURL working groups to improve analytical methods.To test the analytical capabilities of NRLs, the EURLs organise proficiency tests. As the scope of the EURL proficiency tests is sometimes limited, the NRLs also participated in proficiency tests organised by other organisations if this was considered relevant. The majority of these proficiency tests’ results (z-scores) were satisfactory; only a few ‘questionable’ and a few ‘unsatisfactorily’ results were reported. Follow-up actions were implemented in those cases. The performance of the OLs was assured by checking the results of their performance in proficiency tests (organised by other laboratories or the NRL) or by sending them assurance samples. Some OLs also received technical support with regard to their analyses.

National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) are part of the system responsible for the control andenforcement of EU food and feed law. Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR) has been designated as the NRL for twelve subjects. The tasks of a NRL depend on its research fields. This report gives an overview of the activities performed by all of WFSR’s NRLs in 2019. These NRLs are for: halogenated persistent organic pollutants in food and feed, pesticides in products of animal origin, mycotoxins and plant toxins in food and feed, metals and nitrogenous substances in feed and food, p rocessing contaminants, marine biotoxins, certain substances and residues thereof as laid down in Directive 96/23/EC, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed, animal proteins, additives for use in animal nutrition (feed additives), milk and milk products, and water content of poultry.This report first gives an overview of relevant legislation and information on the networks of EURLs, NRLs and OLs. For every NRL, a description is then given of all activities performed in the EURL-NRL network such as participation in EURL-NRL workshops, working groups, and proficiency and comparative tests. This is followed by a description of the assistance given to OLs in the form of quality control and/or advice. Finally, the scientific and technical support given to the competentauthority is discussed. In some cases, the contact with other NRLs is discussed.An important NRL task is to stay up to date with current developments within its NRL domain. Every EURL organises one or two meetings (workshops) every year for that purpose. Participation in these EURL-NRL workshops is mandatory. In 2019, 1 5 workshops have been attended by NRLs of WFSR (former name, before June 2019, RIKILT Wageningen University & Research). Additionally, the NRLs have actively participated in EURL working groups to improve analytical methods. To test the analytical capabilities of NRLs, the EURLs organise proficiency tests. Due to EURL proficiency tests sometimes being limited in their scope, the NRLs have also participated in proficiency tests organised by other organizations if thought to be relevant. Most results (z-scores) in these proficiency tests were good; only a few ‘questionable’ and a few ‘unsatisfactorily’ result were reported. Follow-up actions were implemented in those cases. The performance of the OLs has been assured by checking the results of their performance in proficiency tests (organised by other laboratories or the NRL) or by sending assurance-samples. Some OLs have also received technical support with regard to their analyses.

National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) are part of the system responsible for controlling and enforcing EU food and feed legislation. Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR) has been designated as NRL for thirteen areas of competence including milk and milk products, marine biotoxins, animal proteins in feedingstuffs, certain substances and residues thereof1, additives for use in animal nutrition (feed additives), genetically modified organisms in food and feed, pesticides, metals and nitrogenous substances in feed and food, mycotoxins and plant toxins in food and feed, processing contaminants, halogenated persistent organic pollutants in food and feed, food-borne viruses and water content of poultry. The tasks of WFSR’s NRLs depend on their respective fields of research. This annual report summarises all the activities carried out by WFSR’s NRLs in 2022. Staying updated on the latest developments is a crucial aspect of NRL’s responsibilities. The European Union Reference Laboratories (EURLs) arrange one or two workshops annually to facilitate this objective. Attendance at these workshops is mandatory for EURL-NRL members. In 2022, WFSR’s NRLs attended all the workshops. They actively participated in the EURL working groups to enhance their analytical methods. To assess the analytical capabilities of NRLs, EURLs conduct proficiency tests. Since the scope of these tests is sometimes limited, WFSR’s NRLs also participated in proficiency tests organised by other relevant organisations. The majority of the proficiency tests yielded satisfactory results, with only a few instances of ‘questionable’ or ‘unsatisfactorily’ outcomes. These were addressed through follow-up actions. To ensure the performance of Official Laboratories (OLs), their results in proficiency tests organised by WFSR’s NRLs were checked, or assurance samples were provided. Additionally, technical support related to their analyses was provided for some OLs. Furthermore, the scientific and technical backing offered to the competent authority is explained. In some cases, contact with other NRLs is also discussed

WFSR report 2021.014 | 9 Summary National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) are part of the system responsible for the control and enforcement of EU food and feed law. Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR) has been designated as the NRL for thirteen subjects. The tasks of a NRL depend on its research fields. This report gives an overview of the activities performed by all of NRLs of WFSR in 2020. These NRLs are for: milk and milk products, marine biotoxins, animal proteins, certain substances and residues thereof as laid down in Directive 96/23/EC, additives for use in animal nutrition (feed additives), genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed, pesticides, metals and nitrogenous substances in feed and food, mycotoxins and plant toxins in food and feed, processing contaminants, halogenated persistent organic pollutants in food and feed, food borne viruses and water content of poultry. This report first gives an overview of relevant legislation and information on the networks of EURLs, NRLs and OLs. For every NRL, a description is then given of all activities performed in the EURL-NRL network such as participation in EURL-NRL workshops, working groups, and proficiency and comparative tests. This is followed by a description of the assistance given to OLs in the form of quality control and/or advice. Finally, the scientific and technical support given to the competent authority is discussed. In some cases, the contact with other NRLs is discussed. An important NRL task is to stay up to date with current developments within its NRL domain. Every EURL organises one or two meetings (workshops) every year for that purpose. Participation in these EURL-NRL workshops is mandatory. In 2020, due to COVID-19, most of these workshops were online. All workshops have been attended by NRLs of WFSR. Additionally, the NRLs have actively participated in EURL working groups, to improve analytical methods. To test the analytical capabilities of NRLs, the EURLs organise proficiency tests. Due to EURL proficiency tests sometimes being limited in their scope, the NRLs have also participated in proficiency tests organised by other organizations if thought to be relevant. Most results (z-scores) in these proficiency tests were good; only a few ‘questionable’ and a few ‘unsatisfactorily’ result were reported. Follow-up actions were implemented in those cases. The performance of the OLs has been assured by checking the results of their performance in proficiency tests (organised by other laboratories or the NRL) or by sending assurance-samples. Some OLs have also received technical support with regard to their analyses.