New national reference labs are scheduled to be set up in the near future up by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The labs will work on method development and validation, as well as complete proficiency testing and training by national or international labs that are signatories to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation, the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation or an equivalent accreditation cooperation. Notices for lab certification of Food Safety and Standards regulations have been issued by the labs. No new labs are being built to be national reference labs; rather, reference labs will be identified and chosen from the leading existing labs in India.

The labs will be responsible for developing nationwide standards for routine testing procedures and reliable testing methods, and will serve as central resource institutes for procuring certified and regular reference materials. Technical support and data collation in their areas of expertise, as well as performance evaluations of other notified labs will also be provided by the new reference labs. They are also expected to collaborate with other labs in their network and perform other functions as directed by the FSSAI.

Source: FNB News