Scientific
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
| Chair: B. LE BIZEC, France |  |
| L. BAILLY-CHOURIBERRY, France I. BECUE, Belgium G. BRAMBILLA, Italy S. CROUBELS, Belgium M. DANAHER, Ireland S. DARKAOUI, Morocco G. DERVILLY, France A. GADAJ, United Kingdom N. GILLARD, Belgium J. GRETZIC-MARTENS, The Netherlands | G. HAMSCHER, Germany A. KRISHNAN, India S. LEHOTAY, United States J. POLZER, Germany S. RATH, Brasil S. STERK, The Netherlands I. VARENINA, Croatia P. VAN EENOO, Belgium E. VERDON, France |
| In memoriam Dr. Sami Darkaoui |  |
Dr Sami Darkaoui was Head of the Pharmacy and Veterinary Inputs Division at ONSSA, Rabat, Morocco, from 2017 to the present until his passing, after having been Head of the Control and Expertise Department in the same organization from 2010 to 2016.
One of his key responsibilities at the Pharmacy Division and Veterinary Inputs Division was overseeing an accredited laboratory for analyzing veterinary drug residues, which has been accredited in compliance with the ISO 17025 standard since 2012. He previously worked for the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, where he was Head of the Microbiology Section from 2007 to 2009, having previously been Head of the Animal Health Section from 2006 to 2007 and Veterinary Inspector from 2002 to 2006. He graduated from the Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, where he trained as a vet, and hold a PhD in veterinary science.
Over the past 20 years, Sami Darkaoui has considerably developed the capabilities of the ONSSA laboratory in Rabat, by setting very high analytical standards within the organization, introducing quality management and making the ONSSA laboratory one of the best in Africa for chemical food safety where many scientists from around Africa have been trained over the years. He was very involved in the African community of control laboratories and especially the African Food Safety Network (AFoSaN) as one of the leaders and mobilizers, as well as internationally with the FAO, WHO and IAEA among others. At the IAEA he was a counterpart for a number of national, regional and interregional food safety projects, as well as coordinated research projects, and also became one of the experts the IAEA could call upon to support other countries such as Burundi, Ivory Coast, Libya, Rwanda and Senegal in building their food safety programmes.
For Codex Alimentarius, Dr. Darkaoui led the Moroccan delegation to the Codex Alimentarius Committee for Veterinary Drug Residues since 2012 to 2024. He also served, since 2018, as an Expert for the African Union (AU-IBAR) on veterinary drug residue matters, including contributing to the preparation of the African position for CCRVDF.
He was also a member of the Scientific Council of TRACES and of the last Euroresidue in the Netherlands. Dr Sami Darkaoui left us suddenly on 6 May 2025.
He was a great colleague and an excellent friend to many of us around the world. He will remain deeply etched in our memories.
We sincerely miss him! May he rest in peace.