The sampling plan for sterility testing should take ac of the definition of a batch as stated in the glossary of the GMP guideline together with the recommendations of annex 1 section 93 (section 127 in the February 2008 revision). Each steriliser load is considered to be an independent sub-batch. Consequently, one sterility test should be performed per sub-batch. The number of samples per steriliser load should conform to European Pharmacopoeia requirements, section 2.6.1.3.