The European Fibres Group sub-committee has won the Working Groups Award for the production of the Manual of Best Practice for the Forensic Examination of Fibres.

The European Fibres Group (EFG) was formed in 1993. Currently there are 37 laboratories that are full members and 25 associate members that send representatives to EFG meetings. Generally fifty to sixty people now attend meetings.

Aims 
At the first meeting in the Netherlands in 1993 four aims were agreed:

• standardisation of techniques and instrumentation
• collaborative research
• exchange of information
• regular but informal meetings

However the ultimate aim of the EFG is to ensure that work carried out on a daily basis by its members is of the highest quality and is fit for purpose. The techniques used should be performed to a standard that enables the results from case and research work in different countries to be comparable.

The EFG felt that one way of attempting to fulfil this aim was to produce a Manual of Best Practice for the Forensic Examination of Fibres. The Manual needed to contain minimal standards for all areas of work covered and there had to be complete agreement from as many members as possible. However, it was realised that some aspects are governed by differences in the legal systems of the countries concerned i.e. the laws in one country may state that an expert witness must have a university degree. If in another country this is deemed unnecessary, the Manual needed to be flexible enough to accommodate both situations.

Sub-groups 
It was at the annual EFG meeting in June 1998 in Dundee, Scotland that the group actually started its preparations for writing the Manual. Eight sub-groups were formed, each being chaired by an experienced member of the EFG. The eight sub-groups together with their original Chairpersons are listed below:

• Evidence Recovery/Fibre Finders - Weine Drotz - Linkoping, Sweden
• Microscopy - Walter Brueschweiler - Zurich, Switzerland
• Microspectrophotometry - Peter Adolf - Wiesbaden, Germany
• Thin Layer Chromatography - Ken Wiggins - London, England
• Infrared Spectroscopy - Ruth Griffin - Belfast, N.Ireland
• Other Instrumentation - Henk Leijenhorst - Rijswijk, The Netherlands
• QA/QC - Mike Grieve - Wiesbaden, Germany
• Fabrics/Cord/Damage - Kornelia Nehse, Berlin, Germany

During the next year Peter Adolf and Henk Leijenhorst had to stand down and they were replaced by Roger Robson - Oxford, England and Jolanta Was-Gubala - Cracow, Poland.

Manual of Best Practice
The Manual was finally completed in mid 2001. Many individuals have contributed to the Manual but it is especially important to acknowledge the efforts of the sub-group chairpersons who finally completed the job: Mike Grieve, Weine Drotz, Walter Brueschweiler, Roger Robson, Ruth Griffin, Ken Wiggins, Jolanta Was-Gubala and Kornelia Nehse.

It is these individuals - although also others have made substantial contributions - who were nominated for the ENFSI Working Group Award. It was their efforts and enthusiasm that enabled the EFG to publish a 200-page document that is vital to the future of forensic fibre examination worldwide. The Manual will support that work carried out on a daily basis by EFG members is of the highest quality and fit for purpose. The techniques used should be performed to a standard that enables the results from case and research in different countries to be comparable.

The Manual of Best Practice for the Forensic Examination of Fibres was the first ENFSI WG Manual and has been circulated to over 100 laboratories worldwide. It has been well received not only by the forensic fibre community but also by forensic science as a whole. It has been used as a template by the QCC and other Working Groups are finding it useful now they are in the process of preparing their own Manuals

The Manual is hoped and expected to be used universally to raise the standards of Forensic Fibre Examination. It looks as though this is happening: a recent survey showed that 42% of EFG members said that changes had been made to standard procedures for fibre examination in their laboratories since the Manual had been made available. There is no way of knowing to what extent, but this figure is encouraging.

The EFG has shown that with the enthusiasm and hard work of its members language barriers and misunderstandings that may exist can be overcome. The result is an outstanding Manual that will ensure colleagues from the fibres community - particularly in the EFG and SWGMAT - to benefit from the collected knowledge.