9.7.2014 SPSFAM Meeting Book

AOAC Board of Directors delegates implementation of its policies to staff and various appointed  volunteer boards, committees and panels.  AOAC’s volunteer consensus standards development process includes the following types of standing  consensus committees:  Official Methods Board:   Implementation of the policies and procedures is delegated to the Official  Methods Board (OMB). The OMB shall serve the Association in a scientific and advisory capacity on  standards and methods and the process of their adoption. The OMB provides oversight of AOAC’s  voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment activities. The OMB operates according to an  approved Terms of Reference and answers to the AOAC Board of Directors.  The OMB will carefully vet  the stakeholder panel chair and representative stakeholders for balance and to ensure all perspectives  are represented in the consensus voting process.  Additionally, the OMB vets and approves all members  of the expert review panels for expertise, balance and conflict of interest. OMB assigns an OMB member  to liaise with the stakeholders and expert review panels.  Advisory Panel:   This panel identifies key stakeholders and subject matter experts, frames the issues,  determines ingredients, and sets priorities for the stakeholder panel.  The panelists are generally  comprised of those entities providing financial support and recommended key stakeholders.  The  solicitation refers to an external advisory panel (EAP) which will be noted as the advisory panel in the  remainder of the proposal.  Stakeholder Panel: This panel is comprised of anyone with a material interest.  Participants include, but  are not limited to:  product manufacturers, analyte/method subject matter experts, technology  providers, method experts, government and regulatory agencies, contract research organizations,  reference materials developers, ingredient manufacturers, method end users, academia, non‐ governmental organizations (ISO, IDF, etc…), AOAC volunteers, and others as identified. AOAC ensures a  balanced group of voting stakeholders.  Stakeholders engage and deliberate on the priority objectives as  determined by the advisory panel.   Stakeholder panel accomplish its work via working groups to draft  standards.    All stakeholders may share and contribute to the discussions; however consensus of the stakeholders is  demonstrated via voting conducted with a vetted, balanced representative group of stakeholders in  which all identified and perspectives are represented. Stakeholder panels deliberate and reach  consensus on standards.  To ensure stakeholder panel meetings include a process in which all  stakeholders are afforded due process, the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order serves as the  parliamentary procedure framework by which stakeholder panel deliberations are facilitated.  Working Groups: AOAC stakeholder panel working groups provide scientific credibility by establishing  draft standard method performance requirements {SMPRs).  The working groups use the AOAC SMPR  Guideline as a template from which to discuss and consider method applicability, analytical range,  sensitivity, specificity, limit of quantitation and limit of detection, repeatability, recovery and  reproducibility.  To optimize the progress of working groups, all working group members receive  education on the development of SMPRs and using the guideline prior to initiating their discussions.   Working groups reconcile public comments received on draft standards and make recommendations on  standards to the stakeholder panel.  These groups include global government, industry, and academia  representatives.