ISTA Workshop on Quality Assurance and ISTA Accreditation - Advanced Level

Aim of the workshop 

This workshop aims at presenting and discussing the principles of quality management and it focuses on the needs of seed testing laboratories that wish to comply with the ISTA Accreditation Standard and maintaining ISTA Accreditation.

Workshop content

The content will include presentations and several practical activities to apply in the seed testing laboratory in order to satisfy the quality requirements specified in the ISTA Rules and ISTA Accreditation Standard, such as staff monitoring and internal audit and sampling aspects, equipment and consumables check.

The language will be English – no translation.

Preliminary Programme:

The workshop will be based on lectures, group work and quiz sessions:

System part   

• Requirements of the recent revision of the ISTA Accreditation standard
• Document control including practical exercises
• Internal audit and practical demonstration
• Corrective actions and non-conforming work
• Samplers monitoring
• Analysts monitoring
• Management review
• General management requirements

Technical part   

• Purchase, reception and storage of consumables including practical demonstration on how some consumables are checked, such as germination substrates Equipment calibration and/or verification, validation before use, and regular check, (balances, germination cabinets), exercises on balances validation and definition of tolerances for temperatures demonstration for germination cabinets, oven for moisture test
• Sampling, exercise on verification of dividers
• Storage of samples

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Location

Central Laboratory for Quality of Seeds and Planting Material,
Sandu Aldea Alley, no. 10, sector 1, 012065 Bucharest

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Workshop Organiser

ISTA Secretariat

Andreea-Nicoleta Pinar Email: andreea.pinar@ista.ch

Local Organiser

Central Laboratory for Quality of Seeds and Planting Material

Adina Tîrziu                                                                                                             Email: adina.tirziu@lccsms.ro

Lecturers

Florina Palada	ISTA Head of Accreditation and Technical Department and System Auditor
Joël Léchappé	ISTA Honorary Life Member and ISTA Technical Auditor
Eddie Goldschagg	ISTA Bulking and Sampling Technical Committee Vice-Chair

Participation Fee

ISTA Members	550 EUR
ISTA Non-Members	825 EUR

The participation fee includes all literature and supporting material for the workshop, lunches, coffee breaks and workshop official dinner. It does not include accommodation or meals other than those specified.

The number of participants is a minimum of 20 and restricted to a maximum of 25 participants. 

If you would like to attend the workshop please fill in the registration form. In case you select payment by invoice the invoice will be sent to you, which has to be paid before the participation confirmation will be generated. 
 

Registration and payment deadline is 6 September 2024

Please note:  
For cancellations made before 6 September 2024 registration fees are refundable less the 50 EUR administration fee.   
For cancellations made after 6 September 2024 registration fees are non-refundable. 

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Participants eligible to apply for support to attend the workshop under the Young@ISTA programme should review the funding criteria and download the application form here: Young@ISTA - International Seed Testing Association - Applications for funding close on Monday, 01 April 2024.

Recommended Accommodation:

Pullman Bucharest World Trade Center	Address: 10 Montreal square, District 1, 011469, Bucharest, Romania Phone: +40 21 202 1600 Email: h1714-re2@accor.com Single room/night: 120EUR Double room/night: 130 EUR
Arc de Triomphe by Residence Hotels	Address: 19 Clucerului, Sector 1, 011362 Bucharest, Romania Phone: +4 0727 953 064 Email: reservations@residence.com.ro Single room/night: 80 EUR Double room/night: 100 EUR
Samaa Hotel	Address: Bd. Ion Mihalache, nr. 319C, Sector 1, Bucureşti Phone: 0737-556.677 Email: office@hotelsamaa.ro Single room/night: 70 EUR Double room/night: 90 EUR

Note: Guests may book directly with the hotel and will be responsible for payment of their own room, taxes and incidentals; a shuttle bus will be provided from the listed hotels to the workshop venue.

Travel & Visa information:

You may need a VISA and a Letter of Invitation for entry into Romania. For more information, please visit www.mae.ro.

If you require an invitation letter, or for any additional information, please contact:

Andreea-Nicoleta Pinar
Email: andreea.pinar@ista.ch

The invitation letter will be issued by ISTA Secretariat only after payment of the registration fee.