GEP proficiency testing program in forensic genetics: 10 years of experience

Abstract Since 1992 the GEP-ISFG group has been organizing a proficiency testing program open to all the laboratories in the group. The number of participating laboratories increased continuously from 10 in the first exercise (GEP'93) to 89 registered for the last exercise (GEP'02), 86 (95%) having submitted results. Despite the increasing number of laboratories, results remained quite satisfactory. There is a tendency to concentrate errors in a few laboratories and also an association with the use of home made ladders. mtDNA and statistics are the challenges nowadays, and actions have been implemented in the group to solve the difficulties found in the laboratories for this type of expertise.