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SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL   www.seedtest.org
TRAINING AND EDUCATION •
process. The lecturers were Dr Florina Palada,  
Dr Joël Léchappé and Corinne Guimier.
The system part covered the following 
topics: 
• Requirements of the ISTA Accreditation 
Standard for Seed Testing and Seed Sampling 
• Application for accreditation
• ISTA crop groups
• Document control
• Corrective actions and non-conformities
• How to perform an internal audit
• Management review
The technical part covered the 
following topics: 
• Overview of the International Rules for Seed 
Testing (ISTA Rules) 
• Management of equipment in general 
(examples taken from balances, ovens and 
germination rooms)
• Purchase, reception and storage of 
ISTA ORGANISED A FIRST WORKSHOP 
ON QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ISTA 
ACCREDITATION FOR BEGINNERS IN 
THE FRENCH LANGUAGE, held in November 
2025. This was done as part of the planned 
joint activities with the Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, which 
funded the event. The workshop was held at 
the premises of the ISTA accredited laboratory 
SN01 in Dakar, Senegal, the only ISTA accredited 
laboratory in the African francophone countries.
The contribution of the entire staff to the 
organisation and day-to-day hospitality for the 
workshop, under the excellent coordination of 
the Head of the Seed Division DISEM, Mamadou 
Ndoye and the Technical Manager, Sara Diallo, 
must be commended. We would also like to 
mention here the great support given by ISTA 
Secretary General Andreas Wais, Wilson Hugo 
from FAO and the ISTA Technical Committee 
Administrator Andreea Pinar during the whole 
ISTA Workshop on Quality Assurance and ISTA  
Accreditation for Beginners 
18–20 November 2025, Dakar, Senegal
Florina Palada1, Joël Léchappé2, Corinne Guimier3, Wilson Hugo4 and Mamadou Ndoye5
1Head of ISTA Accreditation and Technical Department
2ISTA Honorary Life Member and Technical Auditor
3Chair of ISTA Bulking and Sampling Committee
4Representative from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
5Head of Seed Division DISEM, Senegal
Workshop participants after the opening meeting
Germination chamber – temperature profile 
demonstration by the host laboratory SN01
Work group – document control
Work group – how to address a non-conformity

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