Recognition of Standards Council of Canada as Laboratory Certification Entity

Passage 1[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 75 (Friday, April 18, 1997)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 19057-19058] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 97-9785] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Office of the Secretary of Transportation Recognition of Standards Council of Canada as Laboratory Certification Entity ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This document announces that the Department has recognized the Standards Council of Canada as an entity authorized to certify (or ``accredit'') Canadian laboratories to participate in the Department of Transportation's drug testing program. DATES: This certification is effective on April 18, 1997. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Bernstein, Director, Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, Room 10317, 400 7th Street, SW., Washington DC 20590 (202) 366-3784; or Robert C. Ashby, Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Regulation and Enforcement, Room 10424, same address, (202) 366-9306. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Transportation's drug testing rules (49 CFR 40.39(b)) establish procedures for the certification of drug testing laboratories outside the United States: (b) Employers subject to this part may also use laboratories located outside the United States if-- (1) The Department of Transportation, based on a written recommendation from DHHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] has certified the laboratory as meeting DHHS laboratory certification standards or deemed the laboratory fully equivalent to a laboratory meeting DHHS laboratory certification standards; or (2) The Department of Transportation, based on a written recommendation from DHHS, has recognized a foreign certifying organization as having equivalent laboratory certification standards and procedures to those of DHHS, and the foreign certifying organization has certified the laboratory, pursuant to those equivalent standards and procedures.#

Passage 2Based on a written recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Transportation, in a March 20, 1997 letter, recognized the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) as having equivalent laboratory certification standards and procedures to those of DHHS. This action authorizes SCC to review and certify Canadian laboratories. A Canadian laboratory with SCC accreditation (the term SCC uses as an equivalent to the DHHS term ``certification'') can participate in the DOT drug testing program on the same basis as any U.S. laboratory certified by DHHS. This includes authorization to test urine samples for U.S., as well as foreign, drivers and other employees subject to DOT drug testing rules. At such time as SCC accredits a Canadian laboratory, SCC will publish a notice to this effect in Canada and DHHS will reference the SCC action in the DHHS list of certified laboratories. Issued this 26th Day of March, 1997, at Washington, D.C. Mary Bernstein, Director, Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance. [FR Doc. 97-9785 Filed 4-17-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-62-M#