This document specifies requirements and gives guidelines for the organization of proficiency testing (PT) schemes for microbiological examinations of a) foods and beverages@ b) feeding animals@ c) environmental samples from food and feed production and handling@ and d) primary production stages. This document is also applicable to the microbiological examination of water where water is either used in food production or is regarded as a food in national legislation. This document relates to the technical organization and implementation of PT schemes@ as well as the statistical treatment of results of microbiological examinations. This document is designed for use with ISO/IEC 17043 and ISO 13528@ and deals only with areas where specific or additional details are necessary for PT schemes dealing with microbiological examinations for the areas specified in the first paragraph.