S.L. 437.80 Art. 19Detailed provisions.

Any detailed provisions necessary for the implementation of these rules shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure provided in the definition "Standing Committee on the Food Chain and

Animal Health" under rule 2. ANNEX I

NATIONAL REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR BLUETONGUE DISEASE

National Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue disease in Malta is the Veterinary Laboratory situated in Abattoir Street, Albertown, Marsa.

TASKS OF THE NATIONAL REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR BLUETONGUE

Reference Laboratory for bluetongue shall be responsible for the co-the standards and diagnostic methods prescribed by the Community Laboratory, the use of reagents and the testing of vaccines. To this end Reference Laboratory: may supply diagnostic reagents to the Community Reference Laboratory when the latter so requests; shall check the quality of all the diagnostic reagents used in Malta; shall organise comparative tests at regular intervals; shall preserve isolates of the bluetongue virus taken from confirmed cases in Malta; shall ensure the confirmation of positive results obtained.

ANNEX II

COMMUNITY REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR BLUETONGUE for Animal Health Laboratory

Woking ONF Kingdom (44-1483)23 24 41 (44-1483)23 24 48 philip-mellor@bbsrc.ac.uk

TASKS OF THE COMMUNITY REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR BLUETONGUE

Community reference laboratory has the following tasks: Coordinating, in consultation with the Commission, diagnostic methods for the Member States, in particular by: specifying, holding and supplying strains of the bluetongue virus for the purpose of serological tests and the preparation of antiserum; the provision of reference sera and other reference reagents to the national reference laboratories for the purpose of standardizing the tests and the reagents used in each Member State; the establishment and conservation of a collection of strains and isolates of the bluetongue virus;

(d) the regular organization of Community comparative diagnostic procedures;

(e) the collection and collation of data and information diagnostic methods used and the results of the tests carried Community;

(f) the classification of isolates of the bluetongue virus, advanced methods,in order to provide a better understanding epizootiology of bluetongue;

(g) monitoring developments worldwide in the area of epizootiology and prevention of bluetongue.