CPSC-Accepted Governmental Laboratories

For a list of CPSC-accepted governmental laboratories, email labaccred@cpsc.gov. All CPSC-accepted governmental laboratories are included in the list of all CPSC-accepted third party laboratories displayed at Lab Search 

CPSC-Accepted Governmental Laboratories 

Section 102 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) allows for the CPSC to accept laboratories that are owned or controlled in whole or in part by a government if—

1. to the extent practicable, manufacturers or private labelers located in any nation are permitted to choose laboratories that are not owned or controlled by the government of that nation;
2. the testing results are not subject to undue influence by any other person, including another governmental entity;
3. the laboratory is not accorded more favorable treatment than other laboratories  in the same nation who have been accredited under this section;
4. the laboratory’s testing results are accorded no greater weight by other governmental authorities than those of other laboratories accredited under this section; and
5. the laboratory does not exercise undue influence over other governmental authorities on matters affecting its operations or on decisions by other governmental authorities controlling distribution of products based on outcomes of the laboratory’s conformity assessments.

The CPSC Requirements Pertaining to Third party Conformity Assessment Bodies (Laboratories) is codified in the rule at 16 CFR part 1112.  This rule defines a governmental testing laboratory as a laboratory that is owned or controlled, in whole or in part, by a government. “Government” includes any unit of a national, territorial, provincial, regional, state, tribal, or local government, and a union or association of sovereign states. “Government” also includes domestic, as well as foreign entities. A laboratory is owned or controlled, in whole or in part, by a government if any one of the following characteristics applies:

1. A governmental entity holds a 1 percent or greater ownership interest, whether direct or indirect, in the laboratory
2. A governmental entity provides any direct financial investment or funding (other than fee for work);
3. A governmental entity has the ability to appoint a majority of the third laboratory’s senior internal governing body (such as, but not limited to, a board of directors); the ability to appoint the presiding official of the laboratory's senior internal governing body (such as, but not limited to, chair or president); and/or the ability to hire, dismiss, or set the compensation level for laboratory personnel;
4. Laboratory management or technical personnel include any government employees;
5. The laboratory has a subordinate position to a governmental entity in its external organizational structure (not including its relationship as a regulated entity to a government regulator); or
6. Apart from its role as regulator, the government can determine, establish, alter, or otherwise affect: 
   • The laboratory’s testing outcomes;
   • The laboratory’s budget or financial decisions;
   • Whether the laboratory may accept particular offers of work; or
   • The laboratory's organizational structure or continued existence.