Barantin partners with Australia's ACDP to strengthen quarantine laboratory capacity
The Indonesian Quarantine Agency (Barantin) has partnered with the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) to strengthen quarantine laboratory capacity and improve testing competence and quality. Through its Standard Testing Quarantine division, Barantin is enhancing the technical capacity of its laboratories via Laboratory Mapping Tool (LMT) training and Proficiency Test (PT) Refresher programmes.
“This activity is the result of cooperation with Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) through the ACDP Regional Emerging Disease Support (REDS) programme,” stated the Head of Barantin’s Standard Testing Quarantine, Risma JP Silitonga, in a statement in Jakarta on Monday.
She noted that the training aims to increase laboratory personnel’s understanding of LMT implementation while strengthening capabilities in conducting proficiency testing. The LMT serves as a vital instrument for evaluating laboratory capacity, identifying strengths and areas for improvement, and supporting sustainable laboratory development planning.
The training featured Lee Trinidad, Project Manager of the ACDP International REDS Programme, and ACDP Proficiency Testing expert James Hollier, both of whom provided training to Standard Testing Quarantine Laboratory personnel on LMT concepts and application.
Through the LMT, laboratory capacity is comprehensively assessed, covering aspects such as infrastructure, organisation, security, equipment, management of materials and reagents, human resources, training, quality assurance, bio-risk management, waste management, and occupational health and safety (OHS). According to Risma, the assessment results will serve as the basis for formulating laboratory capacity strengthening strategies and determining future development priorities.
As part of the series of activities, the ACDP team also conducted on-site visits and direct assessments of the Standard Testing Quarantine Laboratory facilities. The assessment utilised a semi-quantitative approach to identify areas requiring further reinforcement and improvement.
Risma expressed hope that this collaboration would further strengthen Indonesia’s quarantine laboratory capacity to support an effective, reliable, and international-standard animal disease surveillance system. She added that, moving forward, the approaches and training results are expected to be applied to fish quarantine, plant quarantine, as well as food and feed safety and quality laboratories.