05/10/2020
Training through inter-laboratory exercises for the analysis of illicit drugs has been carried out to facilitate the harmonisation of quality criteria
A moment during the training session with attendees from the criminal division of the Turkish Gendarmerie
The twinning project aimed at training in forensic methods in Turkey, which is financed by the European Union (EU) and managed by FIIAPP, continues in its efforts to increase the efficiency of forensic science and legal proceedings. To this end, it is working on improving and expanding the analytical capabilities the Turkish laboratories have by introducing and implementing new methods and techniques in line with EU practices. The last training activity carried out consisted of inter-laboratory exercises in the analysis of illicit drugs.
Personnel from the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences, a body under the Spanish Ministry of Justice, have supported the criminal division of the Turkish Gendarmerie (JKDB) in adapting to EU practices, contributing their experience in relation to the participation and organisation of proficiency tests regarding abused drugs. The activity, which was initially intended to take place in the forensic laboratories of the Gendarmerie forensic department in Ankara, was finally adapted to be organised electronically through the FIIAPP platform: connect.fiiapp.es.
The subject of the training session was proficiency tests, which are intended to help laboratories evaluate the quality of their results and their own performance in conducting tests, enabling the detection of trends and the consideration of possible corrective or preventive actions. Participation in these inter-laboratory comparisons is both necessary and essential in the application of a laboratory quality management system and, ultimately, for accreditation under the ISO 17025 international standard that provides the necessary requirements which testing and calibration laboratories must meet.
