§ 138a. — National Laboratory Accreditation Program.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC138a]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 6A--NATIONAL LABORATORY ACCREDITATION
Sec. 138a. National Laboratory Accreditation Program
(a) Establishment of Program
The Secretary shall administer a National Laboratory Accreditation
Program under which laboratories that request accreditation and conduct
residue testing of agricultural products, or that make claims to the
public or buyers of agricultural products concerning chemical residue
levels on agricultural products, shall be determined to meet certain
minimum quality and reliability standards.
(b) Standards
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, after consultation with
the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, shall establish, through regulations, standards for the National
Laboratory Accreditation program \1\ that shall include--
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\1\ So in original. Probably should be capitalized.
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(1) standards applicable to laboratories;
(2) qualifications for directors and other personnel; and
(3) standards and procedures for quality assurance programs.
(c) Accrediting bodies
The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall approve State
agencies or private, nonprofit entities as accrediting bodies to act on
behalf of such Secretary in implementing the certification and quality
assurance programs in accordance with the requirements of this section.
In making such approvals the Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall--
(1) oversee and review the performance of any accrediting body
acting on behalf of the Secretary to ensure that such accrediting
body is in compliance with the requirements of the certification
program under this section; and
(2) have the right to obtain from an accrediting body acting on
behalf of the Secretary and from any laboratory that may be
certified by such a body all records and materials that may be
necessary for the oversight and review required by paragraph (1).
(d) Requirements
To be accredited under this chapter, a laboratory shall--
(1) prepare and submit an application for accreditation to the
Secretary; and
(2) comply with such terms and conditions as are determined
necessary by the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human
Services.
(e) Exceptions
This chapter shall not apply to--
(1) a laboratory operated by a government agency;
(2) a laboratory operated by a corporation that only performs
analysis of residues on agricultural products for such corporation
or any wholly owned subsidiary of such corporation and does not make
claims to the public or buyers based on such analysis;
(3) a laboratory operated by a partnership that only performs
analysis of residues on agricultural products for the partners of
such partnership and does not make claims to the public or buyers
based on such analysis; or
(4) a laboratory not operated for commercial purposes that
performs pesticide chemical residue analysis on agricultural
products for research or quality control for the internal use of a
person who is initiating the analysis.
(Pub. L. 101-624, title XIII, Sec. 1322, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3562.)
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 138b, 138c of this title.
