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WADA launches stakeholder consultation process for two Technical Documents

compliance docs

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) invites stakeholders to participate in a consultation process to revise the two following Technical Documents (TDs): 

  • TD2026DBS - Dried Blood Spots (DBS) for Doping Control - Requirements and Procedures for Analytical Testing and Storage. 
  • TD2026HBT - Detection of Homologous Blood Transfusion (HBT) by Flow Cytometry.  

Stakeholders are invited to review and provide comments by 4 July 2025 using WADA’s online consultation platform, WADAConnect. For more information related to the use of WADAConnect, please refer to the simple user guide. 

The new TD versions include: 

TD2026DBS: This Technical Document (TD) has been revised to enhance its formatting, structure, and clarity. The main modifications in this revised version of the TD2026DBS include: 

  • Article 2.1: key criteria regarding DBS collection devices have been added here to guide Laboratories in selecting appropriate devices for method development and validation. A more comprehensive list of requirements will be provided in the upcoming 2027 International Standard for Testing. 
  • Comment 1 to Article 2.1: updates have been made to clarify how the low volume and the limited number of spots/pebbles collected will influence the number of Initial Testing Procedures that Testing Authorities can request according to sample preparation/extraction protocols.  
  • Article 4.0 (Selection and Validation of Analytical Testing Procedures): this article provides recommendations to the Laboratories to validate relevant Analytical Testing Procedures towards a minimum DBS testing menu targeting Non-Threshold Substances without Minimum Reporting Levels, which is further described in Annex A of this new TD version.  
  • Article 6 (Storage of DBS Samples): the minimum time for short-term storage has been increased to six months.  

TD2026HBT: This new TD has been produced to harmonize the analysis for detection of HBT in whole blood by Flow Cytometry. The TD includes requirements for Test Method validation and accreditation, pre-analytical (sample preparation and storage) and analytical procedures, criteria for interpretation and reporting of results, as well as a mandatory second opinion process before reporting findings as either Adverse Analytical Findings or Atypical Findings. 

About WADA’s Technical Documents 

Under the International Standard for Laboratories, WADA’s TDs provide technical and procedural direction to WADA-accredited laboratories, WADA-approved laboratories for the Athlete Biological Passport, and other stakeholders. 

As part of WADA’s mandate to enhance anti-doping activities under the World Anti-Doping Code, TDs are occasionally revised to reflect scientific and technological advances in the performance of anti-doping tests and the reporting of test results. They are revised and refined in consultation with WADA stakeholders. 

For any questions related to the above, we invite you to contact us at science@wada-ama.org 

We thank you in advance for your feedback.