§138a National Laboratory Accreditation Program

Summary

The Secretary must run a national program to accredit laboratories that test chemical residues on farm products or tell buyers or the public about residue levels. Labs approved under the program must meet basic quality and reliability standards. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, after talking with the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, must write rules for the program. Those rules must cover lab standards, who can be directors and staff, and how quality checks must work. The HHS Secretary can approve state agencies or private nonprofit groups to act as accrediting bodies. HHS must watch and review those groups and can ask for any records it needs from them or from labs they certify. To be accredited, a lab must apply to the Secretary and follow any conditions set by the Secretary and HHS. The program does not apply to government labs, company or partnership labs that only test for their own business and do not make public claims, or noncommercial labs that test for internal research or quality control.