This Technical Specification specifies a horizontal method for the molecular detection of clostridia carrying botulinum neurotoxin A, B, E, and F genes by a PCR method. This method detects the genes and not the toxins, therefore a positive result does not necessarily mean the presence of these toxins in the sample investigated. This Technical Specification is applicable to products for human consumption, animal feed, and environmental samples.

The PCR assays for detection of genetic sequences encoding specific toxin types are described in Annexes B and C.