CCQM Task group on Comparison Material Transportation (CCQM-TG-CMT)

Terms of References

The Task Group is being established in response to continuous issues during the delivery of study material such as clinical or environmental samples. Various CCQM working groups have on occasion experienced problems during the delivery of their study materials especially with long delays in the customs. As some study materials have to be delivered in a frozen or at least cooled state, long delays can lead to the material thawing and, thus, being useless for the participant. This leads to repeated delivery of the same study material and increased costs either for the piloting or the participating laboratory. As the budgets of most NMIs/DIs are limited, this can lead to less institutes being willing to organise or participate in such studies.

The task group shall collate experiences of all working groups and NMIs experienced in CRM shipment to document best practice approaches to enable fast transit of comparison samples between countries. Deliverables from specific activities will be reported to the plenary meeting in April 2026.

Specific activities

• Document experiences on sample shipment in the different working groups, and in NMIs experienced with CRM shipment, and approaches used to ensure rapid transit times through customs
• Document best practices for transportation to the member NMIs/DIs in the different regions based on collective knowledge
• Investigate potential different modes of transportation such as transportation codes for other purposes that could be extended to study sample transportation
• Develop recommendations for advice/guidance to be included in comparison protocols to reduce the risk of delays of comparison samples in customs
• Develop recommendations on additional collective actions that could be taken to reduce potential delays in customs for comparison samples
• Reporting on outcome to plenary meeting 2026