This international standard specifies minimum requirements for generating and analyzing whole genome sequencing (WGS) data obtained from foodborne bacteria. These requirements are applicable to any sequencing platform or chemistry. This process may include the following stages: a) Handling of bacterial cultures; b) Genomic DNA isolation; c) Library preparation, sequencing, and assessment of raw DNA sequence read quality and storage; d) Bioinformatics analysis for determining genetic relatedness, genetic content and predicting phenotype, and bioinformatics pipeline validation; e) Metadata capture and sequence repository deposition; and f) Validation of the end-to-end WGS workflow (fit for purpose for intended application).