Commission Directive 2006/17/ECShow full title

2. General requirements to be met for determining biological markers

2.1. The tests must be carried out by a qualified laboratory, authorised as a testing centre by the competent authority in the Member State, using EC-marked testing kits where appropriate. The type of test used must be validated for the purpose in accordance with current scientific knowledge.

2.2. The biological tests will be carried out on the donor’s serum or plasma; they must not be performed on other fluids or secretions such as the aqueous or vitreous humour unless specifically justified clinically using a validated test for such a fluid.

2.3. When potential donors have lost blood and have recently received donated blood, blood components, colloids or crystalloids, blood testing may not be valid due to haemodilution of the sample. An algorithm must be applied to assess the degree of haemodilution in the following circumstances:

(a) ante-mortem blood sampling

:

if blood, blood components and/or colloids were infused in the 48 hours preceding blood sampling or if crystalloids were infused in the hour preceding blood sampling;

(b) post-mortem blood sampling

:

if blood, blood components and/or colloids were infused in the 48 hours preceding death or if crystalloids were infused in the hour preceding death.

Tissue establishments may accept tissues and cells from donors with plasma dilution of more than 50 % only if the testing procedures used are validated for such plasma or if a pre-transfusion sample is available.

2.4. In the case of a deceased donor, blood samples must have been obtained just prior to death or, if not possible, the time of sampling must be as soon as possible after death and in any case within 24 hours after death.

2.5.

(a)

In the case of living donors (except allogeneic bone marrow stem-cell and peripheral blood stem-cell donors, for practical reasons), blood samples must be obtained at the time of donation or, if not possible, within seven days post donation (this is the ‘donation sample’).

(b)

Where tissues and cells of allogeneic living donors can be stored for long periods, repeat sampling and testing is required after an interval of 180 days. In these circumstances of repeat testing, the donation sample can be taken up to 30 days prior to and 7 days post donation.

(c)

Where tissues and cells of allogeneic living donors cannot be stored for long periods and repeat sampling is therefore not possible, point 2(5)(a) above applies.

2.6. If in a living donor (except bone marrow stem-cell and peripheral blood stem-cell donors) the ‘donation sample’, as defined in point 2(5)(a) above, is additionally tested by the nucleic acid amplification technique (NAT) for HIV, HBV and HCV, testing of a repeat blood sample is not required. Retesting is also not required if the processing includes an inactivation step that has been validated for the viruses concerned.

2.7. In the case of bone marrow and peripheral blood stem-cell collection, blood samples must be taken for testing within 30 days prior to donation.

2.8. In the case of neonatal donors, the biological tests may be carried out on the donor’s mother to avoid medically unnecessary procedures upon the infant.