Dr Bertrand LOMBARD, PhD, coordinates reference activities within the ANSES directorate steering the activities of the 9 laboratories, after 20 years at the Laboratory for food safety, where he was in particular responsible for up to 3 EURL mandates. He conducted his PhD works on inter-laboratory studies to validate methods and to assess laboratory performance in the field of food microbiology. From 2001 to 2017 and from 2021, he has chaired/chairs ISO/TC 34/SC 9, the ISO committee in charge of standardization in the field of microbiological analysis in the food chain. He also convenes since 2005 its WG 2 ensuring statistical expertise for the standardization works in this area. He has developed an expertise on method validation and measurement uncertainty, as well as on the organisation of proficiency testing in food microbiology.