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WADA Strategic Testing Expert Advisory Group discusses the 2023 International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI)

steag-meeting

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Strategic Testing Expert Advisory Group (STEAG) met at the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL), a WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, on 10-11 August 2022 to discuss the following topics:

  • A review of all the comments received in connection with the stakeholder consultation process that WADA initiated in June regarding the draft 2023 International Standard for Testing and Investigation (ISTI), which has since been approved by WADA’s Executive Committee in September 2022 and will come into effect on 1 January 2023;
  • Additional measures to confirm the identification of athletes, potential criteria for mandatory storage of samples involving high-level athletes from higher risk sports and proposals for enhancements in WADA’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) to more accurately record samples in long-term storage;
  • A review of the implementation of, and compliance with, the Technical Document for Sports Specific Analysis (TDSSA), including a comparison of Anti-Doping Organizations' (ADOs’) implementation for the period 2016-2021; and
  • Updates on new and existing areas of testing, including implementation of dried blood spot (DBS); and, latest developments on the steroidal module of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) using venous blood samples (serum), as well as the endocrinological module of the ABP.

In the interest of providing further insight to stakeholders regarding the matters covered during these meetings, we are also pleased to share a more complete Summary of Outcomes.

Should you have any questions or comments regarding the work of the STEAG, we invite you to contact testing@wada-ama.org.