At present there is considerable disagreement among national research institutes within Europe and panel product manufacturers on the most appropriate method of testing and indeed the need for specific biological durability testing. This paper seeks to place before a broader international audience, the issues related to development of a European standard for evaluating the resistance to fungal decay of wood-based panel products. It rehearses the particular issues which need to be addressed. In particular it identifies as problems to be resolved, pre-conditioning of test samples to remove transient leachable/volatile preservative components, choice of weight loss or strength loss as efficacy criteria, and appropriate sampling levels.

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