21 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2026 • ACCREDITATION ISTA Auditors’ Meeting: Achievements of the Accreditation and Technical Department Figure 2. Evolution of ISTA accredited laboratories and audits from 2016 to June 2026 Dr Florina Palada1 and the Team of Auditors 1Head of ISTA Accreditation and Technical Department DURING THE 2026 ISTA ANNUAL MEETING ORGANISED IN CALGARY, CANADA, the ISTA auditors met on 24 June. The Head of the Accreditation and Technical Department and 27 system and technical auditors participated in the auditors’ meeting. Three auditors-in-training were present. The Chair of the Accreditation Working Group (AWG) for the ISTA Executive Committee (ECOM), Vanessa Sosa was also invited to the meeting. The meeting was organised in a hybrid format, both on-line and with physical participation. During the meeting the following aspects were discussed: • ISTA Accreditation and Technical Department – ISTA Secretariat team • Audits: overview 2025 and plans for 2026 • Evolution of contracted auditors and ISTA audits • Feedback after audits Figure 1. Evolution of ISTA auditors from 2022 to June 2026 • Challenges and achievements • Future objectives Accreditation and Technical Department Staff For the last four years, the department at the ISTA Secretariat has consisted of five team members: Florina, Branka, Stella, Neelam and Beata. The number of contracted technical auditors for standard tests was slightly reduced in 2025 (13) as one colleague from Israel, Lea Mazor, has decided to stop performing audits for ISTA. We fellow auditors would like to express our recognition for the support given by Lea to the Accreditation and Technical Department through the ISTA audits she has performed, and for contributing to case studies and other necessary aspects, such as the training of new candidates to be recognised as auditors. I am happy to congratulate our new colleagues as technical auditors for standard tests, Lucele Pretorius from South Africa and Vladka Gregorová from Czechia. Branka Opra is now a technical auditor with sampling competence only, as well as being a system auditor. We also welcomed into the auditors’ team two new seed health experts, Jaiana Malabarba and Ruud Barnhoorn, and two system auditors, Daniela Villa and Stephan Brière. The latter two were approved in the spring of 2026. There are six auditors-in-training, at different stages of the process. One candidate as a contracted technical auditor and one as a system auditor will soon have their examinations. Further applications to become auditors have been received; however, the training will not be started before the process is finalised for the colleagues already in the training phase. The evolution of ISTA auditors is detailed in Fig. 1. With the newly approved colleagues, the regional distribution of contracted ISTA auditors has improved and we now have more auditors competent for the evaluation of laboratories with seed health in their accreditation scope. At the end of 2025, the number of accredited laboratories was 163 and a total of 58 laboratories
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