QUALITY ASSURANCE IN ANALYTICAL CHEMICAL LABORATORIES - TOWARDS HARMONIZATION AND INTEGRATION OF CURRENT STANDARDS

This article presents the results of a comparative study of the main q uality assurance (QA) and good laboratory practice (GLP) regulation sy stems and standards for analytical chemical laboratories currently bei ng applied in Europe. A growing number of laboratories are being confr onted with the need to cope with two or more of these systems, which i nvolves separate audits and inspections for certification and accredit ation. As these regulatory systems have essentially the same aims, the re is an increasing interest in harmonization of QA and GLP guidelines . As a first step in exploring the possibilities of harmonization, sim ilarities and differences of the current systems, compiled in the form of cross reference tables, have been analyzed (from a laboratory prac tice point of view) by a study group of EURACHEM, The Netherlands. The conclusions of this study have recently been endorsed by the Committe e of EURACHEM Europe.