World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
Communications with WADA
The Doping Authority had numerous contacts with the WADA in 2011, and those contacts related to almost every aspect of the global anti-doping programme that the Doping Authority is involved in implementing. The WADA is frequently approached to provide more detailed explanations of the interpretation of specific components of the prohibited list and other International Standards. Conversely, the Doping Authority is very frequently consulted by the WADA about ongoing doping cases, in part in the context of the right to appeal that WADA has in all cases.
World Anti-Doping Code
As in previous years, the Doping Authority coordinated the 'Dutch' response to the draft Prohibited List, with contributions from the NOC*NSF, the NOC*NSF Athletes' Committee and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. In 2011, there was also an opportunity to comment on amendments to the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) and a few associated technical documents. In addition, at the end of the year, a start was made on writing the comments to the Code itself in the context of the revised Code that will be adopted in late 2013.
Council of Europe
Council of Europe – Monitoring Group
The Council of Europe has a Monitoring Group, which monitors the implementation of the Anti-Doping Convention by the members of the Council of Europe. The legal officer from the Doping Authority attended the meetings of this Monitoring Group. The Monitoring Group is advised by three advisory groups (Education, Legal Issues and Science). Officers from the Doping Authority attended all the meetings of these advisory groups.
Advisory Group on Science
On 16 June, we attended the meeting of the Advisory Group on Science of the Council of Europe. The discussions in this advisory group focus primarily on making the prohibited list more practical and clearer, but there are also differing opinions in the various countries about the direction that should be taken with respect to the universally desired changes.
Unfortunately, other obligations meant that nobody from the Doping Authority was able to attend the April meeting. A written response was sent covering the topics on the agenda for that meeting (meat consumption and doping risks and the coming revision of the World Anti-Doping Code).
Advisory Group on Education
The Advisory Group on Education met twice in Paris: on 15 April, when the Doping Authority gave a presentation about ‘Dietary supplements and education on the risk of food supplements’, and briefly on 13 October when the WADA Code Revision was discussed.
Advisory Group on Legal Issues
The Advisory Group on Legal Issues met more frequently, mainly to discuss the implementation of the WAD Code and privacy issues. Meetings of this Advisory Group always take place in Strasbourg. The Doping Authority's legal officer chairs this Advisory Group.
ANADO / INADO
Early in 2011, it was decided to shut down the global umbrella organisation of national Anti-Doping Organisations (the ANADO - Association of National Anti-Doping Organisations) because of the losses incurred on ANADO’s 'not for profit' business unit, Anti-Doping Services (ADS). After the settlement of the administrative and financial commitments, the organisation will become definitively defunct in early 2012.
Soon after the decision was taken to shut down the ANADO, a number of countries took an initiative to establish a new global umbrella organisation, which was given the name INADO (Institute for National Anti-Doping Organizations). During the latter half of 2011, it was decided that the INADO can definitely expect an annual financial contribution from the WADA and this means that organisation is now on a much healthier footing.
IADA
The 'International Anti-Doping Arrangement' (IADA) is an international governmental joint body initiated by countries with a leading position in the field of anti-doping policy.
One IADA meeting was organised in 2011. The discussions there focused mainly on the WADA standards. A new action plan was adopted and a new Arrangement was drafted. There was also discussion about increasing the number of countries from the current 10. In addition, various members gave presentations of current developments in their countries. The Doping Authority also gave a presentation that covered a survey of elite athletes in the Netherlands.
International federations and foreign NADOs
In addition to the contacts with the organisations and structures referred to above, there was also highly intensive collaboration with other anti-doping organisations, and in particular with the international sports federations and with National Anti-Doping Organisations in other countries. There are almost daily consultations about result management in concrete cases, and about other cases of a cross-border nature or which involve a shared interest.
International congresses
In response to an invitation from our sister organisation, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), there was a visit to their annual scientific conference. In 2011, the congress focused on growth hormone and associated substances. This was the tenth conference organised by the USADA and the ninth occasion upon which the Doping Authority was invited.
In Freiburg, we attended a doping conference organised by the local university. A range of press stories have demonstrated recently that the sports medicine clinic in Freiburg had a fairly liberal approach to doping morality for quite some time. The conference focused on what is sometimes a tense relationship between sports medicine and doping regulations.